AHEAD OF NEC MEETING…PDP Loses 17 Senators, 22 Reps In 2 Years

Gov Mohammed, Damagum, Saraki, others admit crisis is self-inflicted

A total of 39 federal lawmakers have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last two years over the protracted leadership crisis in the former ruling party.

This includes the seven former PDP federal lawmakers who formally resigned from the party and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday.

Interestingly, the defections came as founding fathers and leaders of the party converged in Abuja to reflect on the party’s state.

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What’s more, the latest defections came barely 24 hours before a PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is meant to refocus the party after some of its leaders defected to the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC).
PDP has been locked in a crisis of confidence which preceded the 2023 election.

The crisis, broadly between camps loyal to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, escalated into a tussle over the positions of national chairman and national secretary.

The tussle came to a head with the resignation of Atiku, ex-Senate President David Mark, former Interior Minister Adamu Maina Waziri, among others who recently dumped PDP for the ADC-led opposition coalition.

Defections

So far, the PDP has lost 22 members of the House of Representatives and 17 senators in the last two years.

With the defections, the ruling APC has further tightened its grip on Nigeria’s Senate, securing 70 seats following a series of high-profile defections from opposition parties.
The latest development brings the APC within striking distance of a two-thirds majority in the 109-member upper chamber.
The updated party breakdown in the Senate is as follows: APC: 70, PDP: 28, Labour Party (LP): 5, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP): 1, Social Democratic Party (SDP): 2, and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA): 1.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the latest defections after four opposition senators formally declared their move to the APC.

The lawmakers—Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), Oluwole Olubiyi (Osun Central), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East), and Ekong Samson (Akwa Ibom South)—all defected from the PDP.

Not yet included in the APC’s tally is Senator Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa West), who has already declared his intention to defect from the SDP to the APC.

Once formalised, his switch would raise the APC’s count to 71 – just two seats shy of the 73 required to meet the constitutional threshold for a two-thirds majority.

Meanwhile, two Senate seats remain vacant—Anambra South and Edo Central—both previously held by APC senators.

The PDP, once the main opposition force with 45 senators at the inauguration of the 10th Senate in June 2023, now holds just 28 seats.

Similarly, the Labour Party has dropped from 8 to 5 seats, while the NNPP is down to one.
APGA retains its lone seat in Abia South, although speculation continues around Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe’s rumoured defection to the ADC.

In the House of Representatives, PDP members who have left the party include, among others, Hon. Chris Nkwonta (Abia); Hon. Suleiman Abubakar Gumi (Zamfara); Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu (Delta); Hon. Oluwole Oke (Osun); Hon. Hussein Jallo (Kaduna), and Hon. Adamu Tanko (Niger).

Others are Hon. Victor Nwokolo (Ika North East/Ika South), Hon. Julius Pondi (Burutu), Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi (Warri Federal Constituency), Hon. Nicholas Mutu (Bomadi/Patani), Hon. Ukodhiko Jonathan (Isoko Federal Constituency), Hon. Ezechi Nnamdi (Ndokwa/Ukwuani)—all from Delta State—who left the PDP for the APC.

Also from Akwa Ibom, Hon. Idem Uyime, Hon. Esin Etim, Hon. Paul Ekpo, Hon. Uduak Odudoh, Hon. Okon Bassey, and Hon. Etteh Ikpong—all PDP—joined the APC.

The latest defections from the PDP in the National Assembly took place yesterday, with Hon. Ajilesoro Taofeek Abimbola and Hon. Omirin Olusanya, both from Osun State, as well as Hon. Marcus Onobu from Edo State, moving to the APC.

In the Senate, four serving senators from Akwa Ibom State—Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East) and Senator Ekong Sampson (Akwa Ibom South)—formally resigned their PDP membership, citing unresolved internal crises and a need for better alignment with their constituents and the ruling APC.

Their resignation letters were read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary.

Similarly, three PDP members in the House of Representatives defected to the ruling APC yesterday.
The lawmakers—Hon. Ajilesoro Taofeek Abimbola and Hon. Omirin Olusanya (Osun State) and Hon. Marcus Onobu (Edo State)—conveyed their notices of defection through separate letters read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen at resumed plenary.

In Akwa Ibom, the defections are seen as a significant blow to the PDP, a state regarded as one of the party’s strongholds. The defection is also a major boost to the APC’s growing influence in the region.
In his resignation letter, Senator Aniekan Bassey cited Sections 40 and 68(1)(g) of the Nigerian Constitution, stating that the decision was “deeply considered” but “imperative” in light of prevailing political realities.

Similarly, Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South, also declared his exit from the PDP, describing the move as part of a larger political shift in the state.

“Politics is a game of interest, and if I may add, circumstances,” he said in his defection letter. “In Akwa Ibom State, the Earth has moved with the convergence of principal political players on the APC platform…

My people have high hopes for commensurate reward systems from the APC power matrix.”
He cited the defection of the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to the APC and the growing alignment of political stakeholders in the state with the ruling party as key reasons behind his decision.
Senate President Akpabio, himself a former governor of the state and a key APC figure, acknowledged the letter with a hint of theatrics, stating:

“Senator Aneka Abbasi has now joined the APC. I welcome him with open arms… She has depleted the rank and file of the left-hand side to populate the right-hand side.”
Welcoming the new members, the Senate Leader, on behalf of the APC caucus, stated:

“I sincerely welcome our colleagues to the All Progressives Congress. This cannot be the end — more are coming.”

Similarly, three PDP members in the House of Representatives relayed their notices of defection through separate letters read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen at resumed plenary.

In their respective letters, the lawmakers cited protracted internal crises, unresolved divisions within the PDP, and the need to join President Bola Tinubu in repositioning the economy as reasons for their defections.

The APC National Secretary, Senator Suraj Ajibola, who is from Osun, accompanied by some other party officials, was on the floor of the House to witness the defection.

In his reaction, the Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, asked Speaker Abbas to, in compliance with constitutional provisions, declare the seats of the defectors vacant.
Responding, Abbas, who presided over the plenary, told the Leader of the Opposition that his point of order was noted.

Gov Mohammed, Damagum, Saraki Admit Crisis Self-Inflicted, Vow to Bounce Back

At the Consultative Conference of PDP Founding Fathers and Stakeholders in Abuja, themed “Reclaiming Our Legacy, Renewing Our Collective Vision,” PDP leaders admitted the crisis rocking the party is self-inflicted.
But they also declared that the party would return to its former glory.

Yesterday’s consultative gathering comes ahead of today’s NEC meeting, which is expected to deliberate on the party’s national convention later this year and resolve issues arising from state congresses.

However, Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, at the meeting, admitted that the crisis in the party is self-inflicted.
He added nonetheless that the party has a strong heritage and history to bounce back.
He also said those who left the PDP for the ADC would be proved to have made a wrong decision.

Bala said, “If somebody wants to leave PDP to go to another place, how is this smart in thoughts and in thinking? Because the PDP has history, a legacy, a structure everywhere and the governors are doing their best.”

The Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Amb. Illiya Damagum, also said most of the party’s woes are self-inflicted.
He, however, thanked party members for standing firm in the face of recent political turbulence ahead of the 2027 election.

He said, “We must also confront the hard truth — much of the injury the PDP has suffered has been self-inflicted.”

Damagum’s view was corroborated by former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who at the conference said the party will rebound.

“For many who had already buried this party before now, your presence here speaks volumes — that nobody is going to bury this party.

I say that because if we look at our country today, PDP provides the best platform to develop Nigeria, to unite Nigeria, to make Nigeria prosperous. Nobody can challenge that — because we have done it. For 16 years, we have done it. We have done it. We have done it.”

But a founding father of the party and former minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, tasked the party to ensure it conducts a transparent national convention and opens the party to recruit young members.
He also advocated that the party must get a credible and tested presidential candidate.

Some of the leaders who attended the meeting include Board of Trustees National Secretary, former Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Makarfi; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu; National Youth Leader, Muhammed Suleiman; National Woman Leader, Amina Bryhm; National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN); Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo; National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature; National Vice Chairman (South East), Ali Odefa; and National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

Also present were former Governor of Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo; former Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson; former Governor of Niger, Babangida Aliyu; former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau; former Minister of Special Duties, Aminu Turaki; Chief Olabode George; former Ministers of Information and National Orientation, Professor Jerry Gana and Labaran Maku; Senator Yakubu Lado; Director General of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Emmanuel Agbo; former PDP National Chairman, Abubakar Baraje; and former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Maryam Ciroma, among others.

I Won’t Renounce My History for Any Coalition — Lamido

Former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has said he will not renounce his political history in the PDP for any coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He, however, said he will support any political party that serves as a unifying factor for the country.

Lamido had been associated with the opposition coalition movement that adopted the ADC.
The PDP chieftain, who spoke with newsmen in his Kano office, said despite the current challenges bedevilling the party, he will remain in it because, within it, he was harassed, detained, became a two-term governor and a minister, among others.

“I remain PDP, even though PDP has got some problems. I’m PDP. Because I can’t walk out of my skin and crawl in flesh and blood to be conferred with a smaller skin, called ADC.

I was detained, harassed and blackmailed. My office was burnt, my house was about to be burnt. My friends, my family, were humiliated, were maligned. All for PDP.

Therefore, it also made me a minister, and also a governor. So, I can’t simply renounce my history, my legacy, my heritage, and go into something new.

I will not do that. But certainly, I’m also willing to go — I’m willing to work for any arrangement within the PDP, or as a PDP, for a secure Nigeria in 2027,” he stated.