PDP loses more federal lawmakers to APC

The defection spree that has recently characterised the Nigerian polity recently, continued Thursday with the three members of the House of Representatives elected on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform from Katsina state, switching over to the ruling All Progress Congress (APC).

With their defection, 27 lawmakers in the current National Assembly have since changed political parties, citing unresolved internal party crisis.

Twenty-four of these defectors resigned their membership of the Labour Party (LP) or the PDP and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to join the APC.

One of them, according to Blueprint’s findings, dumped the LP to join the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) while two other LP members joined the PDP.

Swelling the rank of defectors during Thursday’s plenary were the trio of Aliyu Illiyasu (Safana/Butsari), Abdullahi Balarabe Dabai (Bakori/Danja), and Salish Yusuf Majigiri (Mashi/Dushi), who all joined the APC.

Reading Majigiri’s letter, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said the lawmaker was leaving the PDP on account of the “chronic crisis without cure” plaguing the national body of the major opposition party.

The lawmaker said in view of this, he had no option than to seek an alternative platform to advance his political career and ensure adequate representation of his constituents.

Besides, Majigiri said he was fascinated by the transparent leadership style of Katsina state Governor Dikko Radda and his all-inclusive governance and accountability.

On his own, Illiyasu said he was leaving the PDP because of irreconcilable differences bedeviling the party, making it impossible for him to adequately represent his people, just as Dabai regretted that the PDP had been crisis ridden since 2022 and efforts to resolve the conflict yielded no result.

…Masari, Marwa, Radda, others

And in a related development, loyalists of former President Muhammadu Buhari under the umbrella of the Forum of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) within the ruling APC have declared support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Their position came against the backdrop of rumoured plan by some associates of the president who are displeased with his style, to leave en mass.

At the meeting, which held in Abuja Thursday those who declared support for the president included the Katsina state governor, Dr Dikko Radda; representative of the Nigeria state governor, Umar Bago; former governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Tanko Almakura; former Katsina state governor and ex-House Speaker, Aminu Bello Masari and chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) General Buba Marwa (retd.).

Others included a former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, former presidential aide, Okoi Obono Obla, former National Secretary of the APC, Arc. Waziri Bulama, former House of Representatives member, Farouk Adamu, representative of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Foreign Affairs Minister, Maitama Tuggar and many others.

They said while individuals have a right to pursue their political ambitions elsewhere, they do not have to do so under the cloak of “defunct CPC members”.

Answering a question as to whether the bloc would still support Tinubu, one of the leaders, Hon. Farouk Adamu, expressed optimism that the president would be its candidate even in 2027.

He said, “We are with Tinubu just like our leader (Buhari) and it is our hope that Tinubu continues to remain our leader.”