Some members of the House of Representatives have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a move that has sparked controversy within political space.
Defected members include four from Labour Party (LP) and one from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to reports, Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House, announced the lawmakers’ defection on the floor of the green chamber on Thursday. The lawmakers in question are Chinedu Okere (Owerri municipal/Owerri north/Owerri west federal constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura federal constituency of Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar municipal/Odukpani federal constituency of Cross River), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo federal constituency of Edo).
The lawmakers attributed their defection to an alleged crisis within the LP, a claim that has been met with skepticism by some of their colleagues. Abbas, however, congratulated the legislators, stating that they had “taken the right decision.”
This development comes on the heels of another defection, as Erhriatake Ibori-Suenu, who represents Ethiope federal constituency of Delta, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. Ibori-Suenu is the daughter of James Ibori, former Delta governor and chieftain of the PDP.
The defections have been met with protests from some lawmakers, including Ali Isa, minority whip, and George Ozodinobi, deputy minority whip. Ozodinobi, an LP chieftain, stated that his colleagues had no ideology, and that the APC has “brought hunger to Nigerians.”
This latest development is not an isolated incident, as the LP and PDP have lost some legislators to the APC in recent weeks. In July, Ezenwa Onyewuchi, senator representing Imo east, defected from LP to the APC. In October, Chris Nkwonta and Sulaiman Abubakar left the PDP for APC.
