The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has begun to take its toll on the opposition party as it lost two members to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives yesterday.
Former chairman of PDP in Anambra State and member representing Anambra East/West Federal Constituency, Hon. Tony Nwoye and Hon. Emmanuel Udende representing Katsina-Ala/Ukum/ Logo Federal Constituency of Benue State announced their defection to APC on the floor of the House. While Nwoye is a fresh member in the House,Udende, who is deputy chairman, Committee on Police Affairs is spending his second tenure.
The defection, which is first in the Eighth Assembly, slightly altered the numerical standing of the parties in the lower chambers as the APC now has 215 lawmakers; the PDP members stand at 138, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has three members.
The Accord Party, Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) have a member each while one seat, the Nasarawa/ Toto Federal Constituency of Nasarawa State, is vacant following the death of Hon. Baba Musa Onwana. Onwana was elected on the platform of APC.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the session, read the letters of the two lawmakers announcing their defection. The two lawmakers, in their separate letters, claimed that the PDP is now divided into three factions and, as a result, they were finding it difficult to properly represent their people.
Nwoye and Udende told the speaker that the crisis in the party was a distraction to their legislative activities. But a mild drama played itself out as the minority leader, Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), raised a point of order as the speaker made to read Nwoye’s letter.
Ogor described the action of the two defectors as unconstitutional and advised them to vacate their seats. He said by virtue of section 68 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), both Nwoye and Udende would cease to be members of the House for defecting.
Ogor denied that there was any faction in the PDP, arguing that no court of law has declared that there exists any faction in the PDP. Responding, Speaker Dogara called for suspension of debate on the defection, explaining that there are issues that are constitutional matters, while others are facts itself.But before the speaker ruled on the matter, there was a mild drama as members of APC and PDP shouted at one another chanting “APC! APC!! APC!!! While those of PDP responded “PDP! PDP!! PDP!!! Meanwhile, the PDP has stated that there is no faction in the party.
The party said it would ensure that the lawmakers that have jumped ship lose their seats. Secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said various aggrieved party members are being reconciled.
He said with decided cases by the Supreme Court, the lawmakers that defect to another party risk losing his seat. His words: “Any suggestion of a faction, is at best ill-informed and ignorant, and at worst, is part of a grand plan to decimate the only political platform today, that is ready, experienced and able to honour the nation’s invitation to have a credible opposition party that will hold government of the day accountable and thereby strengthen and nourish our young democracy.
“Let it therefore be understood by those of our members in the National Assembly who may be tempted to jump ship, or have already jumped, that on the basis of clear decisions of cases decided in the Supreme Court, they stand the risk of losing their seats in Parliament if they went ahead with their latest indulgence. Our party will insist on a declaration of vacancy and subsequent elections in affected constituencies in the event of such misguided defections.
“The pattern of PDP electoral victories all over the federation since the 2015 general elections shows that where there is election arising from such vacancies, PDP will return a more credible and more loyal representative of the people.”
