…leadership change imminent
Thirty seven members of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the House of Representatives have announced their defection to the All Progressive Party APC, a move that now places the erstwhile minority party to the majority position in the lower chamber.
The 37 members are from the states of Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kwara, Rivers, Katsina and Adamawa.
The members declared their defection in a letter read at plenary today by Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal which was jointly signed by the 37 of them.
Section 68 subsection (1g) of the 1999 constitution as amended requires that member of the National Assembly would write officially to announce should he/she decides to defect to another party. it further spelt out the condition under which a member could decamp which includes “where a party is divided into factions.”
In the letter, the 37 members said their decision was based on the crisis that has engulfed PDP in recent times which they claimed has factionalised the party.
There have been speculations for some time now about the planned defection of the lawmakers following the recent decampment of governors from the five states to the APC.
With this development, the APC with 174 members now has majority in the House, while the PDP has become the minority with 171 membership.
The latest move is expected to lead to leadership change in the House with some APC members already calling for a reshuffling of the principal officers even though, the APC is yet make up the simple majority which is 181 members.
Sources to NewsInvestigatorsng that the leadership has embarked on wide consultation to ensure that they are not cut unaware in the event of any internal uprising.
“There has been meetings among stakeholders within APC and PDP members and the leadership to forestall any counter plot among members,” the source added.
