The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda; Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; and former APC chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Thursday stormed the House of Representatives chamber to witness the formal defection of two New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) lawmakers to the ruling party.
The lawmakers, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin (Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency) and Hon. Sagir Koki (Kano Municipal Federal Constituency), had earlier resigned from the NNPP following months of leadership crisis and factional disputes within the party.
In letters read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen during plenary, both lawmakers cited unresolved internal wrangling and an inability of the party to provide cohesive leadership as their reasons for leaving.
Jibrin, who formally returned to the APC last weekend, said the lingering crisis in the NNPP had made it “impossible to continue representing the good people of Kiru/Bebeji under a party deeply divided along irreconcilable lines.”
Similarly, Koki noted that the national and state leadership crises had crippled the party’s ability to function, leaving him no option but to defect.
However, the session was not without drama as Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda repeatedly raised points of order over the defections.
Chinda insisted that the defections were unconstitutional since the lawmakers did not present evidence that the NNPP had been factionalised to the extent required by law to justify such a move.
Despite his persistent objections, the Speaker did not recognise him, proceeding instead to welcome the defectors into the ruling party.
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