Four senators elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have formally defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing “irreconcilable differences” within their former party as the reason for their decision.
Naijaonpoint reports that the defection letters were read on the floor of the Red Chamber by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during Wednesday’s plenary session.
Senator Akpabio, after reading the individual letters, directed the Clerk of the Senate to formally document the defections.
The senators who have joined the APC are:
Senator Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East)
Senator Oluwole Olubiyi (Osun Central)
Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East)
Senator Samson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South)
With the defections, the updated distribution of the 109-member Senate is as follows:
APC – 70
PDP – 28
Labour Party – 5
Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 2
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – 1
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 1
The latest political shift has further consolidated the APC’s dominance in the upper legislative chamber, leaving the PDP with a significantly reduced minority bloc.
In what appeared to be a show of strength, APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, alongside former Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige, and several members of the House of Representatives, were present in the Senate to welcome the defectors and celebrate the party’s growing numbers.