This is not the best of times for the All Progressives Congress, APC, as 52 lawmakers, on Tuesday, last week, dumped it and joined some opposition parties.
The day started in a dramatic way as Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, were both stopped from leaving their residences in Abuja.
Also, there were reports that plans were underway to impeach Saraki as he was alleged to be the mastermind of a mass defection of members of the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Saraki, the night before, stated that “This plot aimed at compelling me and my associates to stay in a party where members are criminalised without just cause, where injustice is perpetrated at the highest level and where there is no respect for constitutionalism is an exercise in futility and it will fail.”
Saraki was not caged for long as he later found his way into the Red chamber.
The warning signs of defection had been apparent since last year, but it appears the ruling APC, just would not do anything concrete to stop the movement.
About 15 senators were the first to defect as they shifted base. The defection was announced that Tuesday by Senator Bukola Saraki who presided over the plenary shortly after he escaped from the siege to his house by policemen.
The senators that defected include Barnabas Gemade (Benue); Shaaba Lafiaji (Kwara); Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara) and Usman Nafada (Gombe).
Others are Senators Suleiman Hunkuyi; Ibrahim Danbaba; Ubale Shittu; Isah Misau; Suleiman Nazif; Rafiu Ibrahim and Dino Melaye and Lanre Tejuosho.
Tejuosho has however gone back to the APC.
Senators Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo) and Abdul-Aziz Nyako (Adamawa) have also defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The letter announcing the gale of defection reads: “Dear Senate President, after due consultation with our constituents and stakeholders in our constituencies, in proper recognition of section 68 (1G) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and with the fact that our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is hereby emerging factions, we hereby inform the Senate that we the undersigned are changing our political affiliation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We thank you for your exemplary leadership.”
Shortly after reading the letter, Saraki also announced that Sen. Murtala Nyako had also indicated his intention to leave the APC, bringing the total number of defectors to 15.
Speaking after the defection, Saraki expressed displeasure over the siege to his residence and that of Ekweremadu earlier in the day.
“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 to their residences,” he said.
To make matters worse for the APC, barley two hours after the defection in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, 36 lawmakers in the lower chamber dumped the APC.
While 32 of the defecting House of Representatives members announced that they were leaving for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), four said they would join the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The lawmakers cited division in the APC as the reason for their defection.
Among the defectors are Dickson Tackighir; Hassan Saleh; Danburam Nuhu; Sani Rano; Barry Mpigi; Mark Gbilah; Ali Madaki; Razak Atunwa; Abdulsamad Dasuk; Zakari Mohammed and Garba Bichi.
The Next Edition gathered that PDP members in the House of Representatives celebrated the development even ahead of the announcement, upon the news that some senators had joined the leading opposition party.
The lawmakers, very excited, started singing: “Oh, my home, oh my home, when shall I see my home?”
They also chanted: “Dogara! Dogara! Dogara!” to welcome the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara into their fold.
The Speaker of House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara and Senate President Bukola Saraki are also rumoured to have concluded plans to defect from APC.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the siege to the residences of the two principal officers of the Senate by the police was to tactically prevent them from attending plenary where it was said that plans to remove them would be executed.
Upon the spread of the news, PDP lawmakers converged on the lobby of the National Assembly and vowed not to allow a leadership change.
Some of them even threatened to break into the Senate Chamber to forcefully stop any attempt to change the leadership of the upper chamber.
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The plan, if there was any indeed, eventually failed.
The mass defection from the APC remains a huge loss to the party notwithstanding whatever its members, particularly, the National Chairman, Adams Oshimohole, may have said.
It would be recalled that Oshiomhole has since the gale of defection said the party felt relieved that pretenders had left and that the party could now prepare ahead of the 2019 election.
