APC regains House majority as PDP loses 8 Reps

The ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party in the
House of Representatives further depleted on
Wednesday as eight more members defected from the
majority party.
Four of the defectors joined the rival All Progressives
Congress, giving indications that the leading
opposition party had gained the control of the House
as the majority party.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance gained two of the
defectors, while the Peoples Democratic Movement
and the Social Democratic Party each gained one,
bringing to eight the total PDP defectors on
Wednesday.
All the defected legislators either cited dissatisfaction
with the conduct of the party's last primaries or
divisions in its fold as reasons for their decision to
abandon the PDP.
The four who defected to the APC were Garba Ulma,
Zakari Ibrahim, Ibrahim Kamba and Abdulmalik
Cheche.
Wilson Nathaniel joined the SDP, while Tony Madwatte
and Nwogbo defected to PDM and APGA respectively.
Another member, Mr. Benjamin Aboho, defected to
APGA, while Mr. Forte Dike left APGA for the APC.
Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Mr. Victor Ogene, also made his
defection from APGA to the APC official on
Wednesday.
By Ogene's defection, both the chairman of the House
committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari
Mohammed, and his deputy are now members of the
APC.
The APC alone gained six out of the total of 10
lawmakers who changed political parties on
Wednesday.
A National Assembly official told The PUNCH that the
series of defections hitting the PDP lately had raised
the numerical strength of the APC to 179 members,
giving it the upper hand over the former.
The official said, "As it stands today, the APC has taken
over as the majority party. There are now 179 APC
members, while PDP has 162. The small parties
together have 19 members.
"Ten of the members belong to the SDP."
When The PUNCH sought the reaction of the Deputy
House Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, he neither
denied nor confirmed the figures.
Ogor merely described the loss of his party's
membership as "inconsequential."
He reminded our correspondent that the issue of
defections in the House was still before the courts.
"This issue is inconsequential because the PDP is
clearly in control. The courts have said status quo
should remain.
"So, we are not bothered as we are in control. Even if it
is only Leo Ogor who remains in the PDP, we are in
control, so long as the courts have not decided on the
issue of defections", he said.
The SDP has jumped to the third largest party in the
House with 10 members.
Labour Party has about three members, APGA has
three, PDM has two members and Accord Party, one.
Meanwhile, the House further amended the Electoral
Act 2010 on Wednesday to make a provision to
empower the Independent National Electoral
Commission to ensure that Internally Displaced
Persons would vote at elections held during
emergencies.
The amendment to the Act, which passed third reading
on Wednesday, was a response to INEC's stance that
there was no legal backing for it to guarantee voting
opportunities for the IDPs during next month's general
elections.
The amendment added a new clause to the existing
Section 26 of the Principal Act, giving INEC powers to
make provision for the voting rights of the IDPs.
It was proposed by a PDP lawmaker from Taraba
State, Mr. Albert Tsam-Tsokwa.
The amendment received unanimous approval by
members and was passed along with the new Electoral
Act.
However, the House and the Senate will still meet in
conference to harmonise any differences that may
appear in their respective versions of the new law.
Source: PUNCHNG