Four senators and three members of the House of Representatives, elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have officially defected to All Progressives Congress (APC).
From the senate, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, read the letters of defection during plenary on Wednesday, July 23, officially confirming their exit from the PDP.
The four senators who dumped the PDP are Sampson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East), Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), and Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central).
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.
From the House of Representatives, Taofeek Ajilesoro and Omirin Emmanuel Olusanya, from Osun state, joined Marcus Onobun from Edo in announcing their defection through separate letters addressed to Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House.
The speaker, Abbas stated that the lawmakers attributed their decision to “irreconcilable divisions” within the PDP.
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.
