By AbdulGaneey Balogun
Fresh defections on Wednesday further weakened the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate as three more senators joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing persistent crises within their former party.
The latest defectors, whose letters were read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary, are Amos Yunana (Adamawa North), Aminu Iya Abbas (Adamawa Central) and Ikra Aliyu Bilbis (Zamfara Central).
Their defections came 24 hours after Senator Banigo Ipalibo (Rivers West) left the PDP for the APC on Tuesday. The development has reduced the PDP’s membership in the Senate from 17 to 14, while increasing the APC’s strength from 81 to 84.
In his remarks after the defecting senators moved from the left side of the aisle to the right side of the chamber, Akpabio said the wave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling party in the 10th Senate was unprecedented since Nigeria gained independence in 1960.
He recalled that the current trend of defections from the PDP to the APC is the reverse of what happened in the 8th Senate in 2018, when the APC lost several senators to the PDP, including the then Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
“To me, what is happening now between PDP and APC senators is more like a 1–1 draw because in 2018, during the 8th National Assembly, about 30 senators defected from the APC to the PDP in one day,” he said.
“Now, during the 10th National Assembly, it is the other way round. PDP senators are defecting in large numbers to the APC, largely due to what they see as good governance being delivered at the centre by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has rescued the nation’s economy from bankruptcy to stability with bold decisions and reforms,” Akpabio added.
Earlier, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central), said the continued defections from the PDP and other minority parties to the APC indicate growing confidence in the administration of President Tinubu.
“The defectors are not daft. They have seen that something is working in the country for the good of all, and they believe they should be active participants within the APC caucus,” he said.
The current composition of the Senate by party affiliation, compared with June 2023 when the 10th National Assembly was inaugurated, shows the APC now has 84 senators, up from 59; the PDP has 14, down from 36; the Labour Party has none, down from eight; the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has one, down from two; the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has none, down from two; while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) retains one seat.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), which had no senator at the start of the 10th National Assembly, now has five members, while the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has one senator — Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa West).
The total number of serving senators currently stands at 106, compared to the constitutional 109 seats, due to three vacancies created by the deaths of Senators Godiya Akwashiki (Nasarawa North), Okechukwu Ezea (Enugu North) and Barinada Mpigi (Rivers South-East).
Juliet Ezeh is the founder and chief reporter at Westbridge Reporters with over 7 years of experience in journalism. She covers crime, industry, policy, and social developments, delivering timely and accurate reporting.