Six lawmakers in the House of Representatives in Nigeria and members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have defected to four other political parties, making the All Progressives Congress majority, as the lawmakers resumed plenary after a five-week recess.
The lawmakers defected to four other parties; the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Parties which gained two members each and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Accord which gained a member each.
The plenary of the day started after members of the House of Representatives exchange of pleasantries, as they returned to the complex for plenary after the five-week recess. No sooner than the day’s proceedings began, the speaker of the House, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, announced notices of defection from six members of the PDP to four other parties.
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The defected lawmakers are Robinson Uwak from Akwa-Ibom, Mohammed Ibrahim from Jigawa, Tobias Okwurio Chukwuemeka and Peter Ali, both from Ebonyin State, Akpan Umoh from Akwa-Ibom and Chineyen Eke from Abia State.
Robinson Uwak and Mohammed Ibrahim defected to the APC, Tobias Okwurio Chukwuemeka and Peter Ali moved to the Labour Party, Akpan Umoh defected to Accord Party while Chineyen Eke defected to the APGA.
The current defection gave the APC clear majority in the House, bringing their number to 181 members against 156 which the ruling PDP has been reduced to. Other parties in the house now share 23 seats, with the SDP occupying 10, the Labour Party five, APGA four, PDM two, and the Accord Party two seats.
After the defection, the Deputy Minority Leader, Suleiman Kawu, under the order of privilege, requested that the House should implement some immediate changes to the leadership of the house. But the speaker of the House intercepted the move, stressing that an existing court case halting such a move must be respected.
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