House in rowdy session as 37 members dump APC
News & Trends •
details shortly2 by ifeanyi nwokoeric james ochigbo1 thirty seven members of the house of representatives formerly in the fold of the all progressive congress apc has dumped the party and moved to the peoples democratic party pdp and african democratic congress adc1 the representatives in a letter to the speaker of the house of representatives yakubu dogara officially announced their defection during plenary on tuesday1 top on the list of the defectors is the chairman committee on rules and business rep. emmanuel orker-jev benue1 of the 37 defectors 33 went to the pdp while four others from oyo state moved to adc1 other prominent members who dumped the apc includesani rano barry mpigi ali madaki dickson tackighir hassan saleh danburam nuhu mark gbilah razak atunwa ahmed garba bichi abdulsamad dasuk and zakari mohammed1 this is coming after 15 senators in the senate dumped the apc for pdp1 the defection in the house of representatives threw the chamber into a rowdy session as the remaining members of the apc in the house staged a walkout from plenary to address newsmen1

Kwankwaso, Gemade, 13 other Senators dump APC
News & Trends •
details shortly2 in a letter to the president of the senate signed by 14 senators they indicated their intention to leave the ruling apc for the opposition pdp1 others senators are rafui ibrahim suleiman hunkuyi monsurat sunmonu ibrahim danbaba usman nafada and suleiman nazif1 the letter reads thus1 dear senate president after due consultation with our constituents and stakeholders in our constituencies in proper recognition of section 681g of the 1999 constitution as amended and with the fact our party the all progressives congress apc is hereby emerging factions1 we hereby inform the senate that wethe undersigned are changing our political affiliation from the all progressives congress apc to the peoples democratic party pdp1 the senators who have so far defected are rabui musa kwankwaso kano central barnabas gemade benue north-west dino melaye kogi east isa hamman misau lanre tajouso shaaba lafiagi mohammed shittu and ubali shittu1 shortly after reading the letter saraki also announced that sen. murtala nyako has also indicated his intention to leave the apc bringing the total number of defectors to 151 with this number of new senators in the pdp the party now holds the majority seats in the upper legislative chamber1 speaking after the defection saraki who expressed displeasure at the siege on his residence and those of other lawmakers said that it was uncalled for1 people have the freedom of association. i have been sitting down here and more than 15 senators have decamped or defected to one party or the other. there was no siege on their residence he said1 we thank you for your exemplary leadership1