APC, PDP logos
Weeks after the national conventions of the political parties, a gale of defections has hit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with some of its key members defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Following the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential candidate of the PDP, pundits have predicted mass defection from other parties to the PDP especially in the north, which see in Atiku the most plausible route to hold on to power.
The defections have cut across senators, governorship aspirants and other top party members, but a trend is also emerging with the defections sweeping from the north to the south. In some cases, PDP members had defected to other parties including the APC but the trend showed that PDP has gained more than it lost.
This has fueled speculation that many APC governors in the north have concluded plans to work for the victory of Atiku in the 2023 Presidential election.
In Sokoto, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Achida, and three gubernatorial aspirants of the APC have defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. The defectors were received by Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, on Sunday in Sokoto.
The gubernatorial aspirants who defected to the PDP are former Minister of Sports Yusuf Suleiman, Alhaji Abubakar Gumbi and serving Rep. Balarabe Salame.
Others who defected alongside included Rep. Yusuf Kurdula, Sen. Bello Gada, state Assemblyman Murtala Maigona, serving National Commissioner in the Public Complaints Commission and Sen. Jibril Gada.
Receiving the defectors, Okowa who was in Sokoto, said that the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has the quality and knowledge to solve the country’s numerous challenges.
Last week, three Senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) resigned their membership of the ruling party. The senators are: Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North), Lawal Gumau (Bauchi South) and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North).
The notices of their resignation and defection are contained in three separate letters read during plenary by the President of the Senate President last Tuesday.
While Kaita and Alimikhena defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gumau, on the other hand, defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Kaita’s letter reads, “As senator representing Katsina North Senatorial District, I write to formally notify you of my resignation from the APC and registration declaration for the PDP.
“My resignation from the APC was borne out of the marginalisation of critical stakeholders by the State Government and Leadership of the Party in Katsina State, where small people like me do not have a chance. I have since been joyfully and graciously accepted into the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party in Katsina State.”
In Kebbi, the APC recently lost eight lawmakers to the PDP. The lawmakers comprised five members of the National Assembly and three members of the state House of Assembly.
The manner in which the APC allegedly conducted its primary elections led to the mass defection to the PDP as some party members said they were disenchanted.
The Senator representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District, Adamu Aliero, Kebbi North Senatorial District, Yahaya Abdullahi, Senate leader as well as a member of the House of Representatives, defected from APC to PDP.
Members representing Aliero/Jega/Gwandu and Dandi/Arewa federal Constituencies, Mohammed Umar Jega and Abdullahi Zumbo, also dumped the APC for PDP.
Habibu Labbo, Ismaila Bui and Mohammed Buhari Aliero, representing Gwandu, Arewa and Aliero constituencies, of the state House of Assembly also abandoned APC for PDP.
Usaini Raha, the state Organizing Secretary of the PDP, confirmed the defection of the lawmakers to the PDP.
The trend of defection hints at a coming tsunami in which many APC chieftains are predicted to ditch the party and join the PDP. The APC controls 22 states while the PDP controls 13 with APGA having just one state (Anambra).
