A total of 37 members of the House of Representatives have defected from Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
37 Reps renounce APC, defects to PDP
Of this number, 32 joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while four joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC). One later announced he was also leaving the APC but did not state his new party.
This is coming barely 14 hours after 15 APC senators decamped to the PDP.
In the defection letter read by Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House, the lawmakers cited fictionalization and division in the party as their reason for leaving.
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Prominent among the defectors are Sani Rano, Barry Mpigi, Ali Madaki, Dickson Tackighir, Hassan Saleh, Danburam Nuhu, Mark Gbilah, Razak Atunwa, Ahmed Bichi, Abdulsamad Dasuki and Zakari Mohammed.
Neither the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, nor his deputy, Yusuff Lasun, was named among the defectors.
Few minutes after the 36 announced their defection, the chairman of the House of Representatives Rules and Business, Orker Jev, announced he was also resigning from the APC.
He cited division in the APC as his reason for leaving the party. He however did not announce the party he is moving to.
