The wave of political alignments ahead of the 2027 general election continued on Tuesday as 27 members of the House of Representatives switched political platforms, with the All Progressives Congress gaining 14 new members and losing two.
Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, while presiding over Tuesday’s plenary, announced the defections, lamenting the decision of two of his colleagues to dump the APC for the opposition.
The defections strengthened the fortune of the ruling party in the Green Chamber as its membership rose to about 280 out of the 360-member parliament.
The Peoples Democratic Party, which has lost many of its members, comes a distant second with 38 members, the African Democratic Congress has 15 members, while the Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party are left with 12 and five members respectively.
The Accord and the Action Peoples Party have two members each.
Recall that during the inauguration of the 10th House in June, 2023, the APC had 181 members, while the opposition parties had 179, with the PDP leading with 115 members.
Last week, The PUNCH exclusively reported the imminent defection of the House Deputy Spokesman, Philip Agbese.
On Tuesday, the Benue lawmaker left for the LP, anchoring his defection to the lingering political crisis between Governor Hyacinth Alia and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
With his defection, Agbese, who represents Ogbadigbo/Okpokun Federal Constituency, became the first lawmaker elected on the platform of the APC to dump the party for the minority party.
Other defectors included Ademola Akani and Lanre Oladebo Omoleye (PDP to Accord), Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) and Anthony Nwogu (LP, Imo) to APP.
On his part, the House Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, led the defectors from LP to the ADC.
“I am leaving LP due to the crisis in the party. The crisis has affected the collective pursuit of a common agenda, and we believe that the decision to join the ADC will enhance my contribution to national development,” he said.
Others who left for the ADC included Harris Uchenna (LP, Anambra), Yahaya Tongo (PDP, Gombe), Oluwaseyi Sowumi (LP, Lagos), Aliyu Mustapha Abdullahi (APC, Kaduna, who recently defected from PDP to APC), Mani Maishinko (PDP, Sokoto), Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto) and Umar Yabo (PDP, Sokoto), all left their parties for the ADC.
Mustapha Tijani, Mohammed Shehu, Dankwa Idris, Hassan Shehu, Tanimu Yusuf, Mohammed Ciroma, Sani Madaki, and Tijani Jobe all swapped the NNPP for the APC.
The APC also gained Ja’afaru Yakubu (PDP, Taraba), Sadiq Tafida (PDP, Taraba), Ibrahim Mohammed (PDP, Kebbi) and Hassan Shinkafi (PDP, Zamfara)
Sani Madaki, who was until his defection the Deputy Minority leader of the House, said his decision to leave the NNPP was a result of the protracted crisis in the party, leading to a legion of court cases and what he discovered about the Kwankwasiyya movement.
He said the crisis in the party has divided its members along the line of supporters of the founders of the party and the former Kano State governor, Mr Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin and former APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, were at the session to welcome eight NNPP defectors from Kano State to the APC.
On Monday, the leader of the Kwankwassiya movement and NNPP chieftain, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, dumped the party for the ADC.
He was joined by supporters, including the former deputy governor of Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo and the 2023 governorship candidate in the state, Yusuf Gawuna.
Announcing his decision to join the APC in a statement on Tuesday, the lawmaker representing Birnin Kebbi, Kalgo and Bunza Federal Constituency of Kebbi State, Mohammed blamed protracted leadership crises and internal divisions within the opposition party.
He said the PDP had been “deeply enmeshed in unresolved leadership tussles and litigations” that had weakened its effectiveness as a political platform.
“The persistent leadership crisis and internal conflicts within the party have made it increasingly difficult for committed members like myself to contribute meaningfully to its growth and democratic responsibilities,” he said.
The lawmaker confirmed that he has formally communicated his resignation to his ward leadership in Nasarawa I Ward, Birnin Kebbi, and has also notified the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
PDP senator joins APC
In a related development, the senator representing Niger South, Peter Jiya, on Tuesday defected from the PDP to the APC, citing deepening internal disputes within his former party.
The defection, which adds to the growing wave of political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, was formally conveyed in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and read during plenary on Tuesday.
In the letter, Jiya stated that he had resigned his membership of the PDP with effect from March 10.
“I wish to notify you and the Senate that I have resigned my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party effective today,” the letter read.
Explaining the reason for his decision, the lawmaker pointed to unresolved internal conflicts within the party.
“This action is premised on quarrels and irreconcilable divisions within the party,” he said.
Jiya further announced his decision to continue his political career under the APC.
He also expressed appreciation to the PDP for the opportunity to serve.
The development comes barely 24 hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission formally recognised a faction of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Agbese dismisses gov ambition
The Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Mr Philip Agbese, said his defection was driven by the wishes of his constituents, as he dismissed speculation linking it to a governorship ambition in Benue State.
Speaking to journalists, he said, “Well, first and foremost, let me thank the people of Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency for the opportunity to be here.
“Secondly, we are about to kickstart another round of the tournament, and the people, of course, having critically examined the machinery that brought us here, and they realised some faults, have decided to board another plane, which is the Labour Party.
“So let me thank Her Excellency, Senator Nenadi Usman, the national chairman of the Labour Party, and the entire leadership, for accepting us to be part of the Labour family.”
He added, “I want to categorically put it on record that our defection is about service to our people. It is about making ourselves available again for service come 2027 and our people, the largest population of our people, have taken a very firm position, to say that the Labour Party is the only available vehicle that will take us to the expected destination, come 2027, and as a servant of the people, we have no choice than to be part of the Labour family. That is why we’re here today.”
Agbese, who described himself as the new political leader of the party in Benue, pledged loyalty to the LP and ruled out importing internal wrangling from his former party.
“This is a new family. I’m just coming in, and as the new political leader of the party in Benue state, we also have our national leader, His Excellency, Dr Alex Otti. He is the national leader of this great party.
“So I think there is a need for us to step down our old behaviour from the APC, wear a new lens and see things differently.
“So, not until we do that, we don’t really know, but I believe that Senator Nenadi Usman has accepted me into this party and to lead the party to victory.”
Explaining why he did not join the ADC, Agbese said the decision reflected the preference of his constituents.
“The people of my federal constituency are completely different kinds of people. They respect multi-party democracy,” he said.
On rumours of a governorship bid, Agbese said, “I do not only believe in leadership. I also believe much more in servantship. And today we have also adopted the responsibility not to even be servants again, but to become labourers.
“There’s no governorship ambition in sight at the moment. We cannot rule that out in the near or far future, but at the moment, I think it is about the people.”
He also reaffirmed his loyalty to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
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