Two members of the House of Representatives from Osun State, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and another from Edo State, have officially defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also, four senators elected on the platform of PDP defected to the ruling APC.
The defections has given the ruling APC a majority of 72 in the 10th Senate, up from the 50 seats it held at the commencement of the current Assembly in June 2023.
PDP’s numbers have dropped to 28, following a series of defections from not only its ranks but also from the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The Senate subsequently relaxed its rules to allow the presence of some high-profile APC officials, including the party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru; Chairman of the APC in Osun State, Tajudeen Lawal; members of the House of Representatives, and former Minister, Chris Ngige, who were in the chamber to witness the wave of defections.
The Osun lawmakers, Taofeek Ajilesoro and Omirin Emmanuel Olusanya, joined Marcus Onobun from Edo in announcing their defection through separate letters addressed to the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas.
The letters were read on the floor of the House on Wednesday, with Speaker Abbas stating that the lawmakers attributed their decision to “irreconcilable divisions” within the PDP.
Senator Ajibola Bashiru, the National Secretary of the APC, was present in the chamber during the announcement, lending weight to the ruling party’s endorsement of the defections.
Reacting to the development, Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda urged the Speaker to declare the seats of the defecting members vacant, citing constitutional provisions that prohibit elected officials from switching parties without a justifiable split in their former party.
The PDP senators, Sampson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East), Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), and Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central), announced their defection through formal letters submitted to the Senate.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the letters during plenary, officially confirming their exit from the PDP.
