Investigating the Unspoken Ethics of Political Defections through Contextual Integrity

Abstract

Political defections in Nigeria are often hastily dismissed as betrayals of party loyalty or as opportunistic bids for personal gain. Such interpretations, though widespread, risk oversimplifying what is in fact a more layered and context-driven phenomenon. This paper argues that defections should be approached as covert communicative acts, deeply embedded in sociopolitical expectations that extend beyond the surface of electoral manoeuvring. Using Delta State as a case study, particularly the wave of high-profile defections in 2025, the study applies Helen Nissenbaum’s Theory of Contextual Integrity (TCI) to interrogate the implicit meanings encoded in these political shifts. The approach treats defections not simply as strategic calculations, but as symbolic performances that negotiate legitimacy, survival, and identity within Nigeria’s fragile democratic framework. The methodology is qualitative, drawing on purposive sampling of six prominent defections, media narratives, and public statements. These are examined through a blend of thematic coding and pragmatic-discursive analysis to reveal how defections function as opaque speech acts—sometimes explicit, at other times silent—that reconfigure party norms and political alignments. The findings suggest that defections in Delta State reflect broader shifts in political culture, where allegiance is less anchored in ideology and more responsive to changing contextual realities. Importantly, defections emerge as adaptive strategies that balance personal survival with appeals to collective identity, while also testing the elasticity of democratic norms. By reframing defections through the lens of contextual integrity, this study contributes to scholarship on implicit political communication in transitional democracies. It moves the debate away from crude moralistic judgements of “loyalty” or “betrayal” and towards an appreciation of defections as complex, layered performances of meaning. The paper concludes that political defections in Delta State offer a valuable window into how actors navigate the unspoken ethical terrain of Nigerian democracy.