Nigeria, Dec. 5 -- Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke on Monday announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform he had been elected a senator and subsequently a governor. His spokesperson, who broke the news in a press statement, said the governor had resigned since 4 November, but did not explain why such a consequential political step was hidden from the public for close to a month.

Though the governor attributed his exit from PDP to the national leadership crisis, the decision was neither abrupt nor unexpected. It was the culmination of months of factional battles, and an increasingly dicey electoral timetable that closed in on him.

Nevertheless, the timing of the disclosure and the reason given ...