In a dramatic political shift on Thursday, Katsina State governor, Dikko Umar Radda, made a surprise appearance at the House of Representatives to witness the defection of three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers from his State to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor arrived at the green chamber at exactly 11:10am in company of the State’s immediate-past governor, Ibrahim Shema, and was formally ushered in by the House leadership. He was at the green chamber to witness the formal announcement of defection of the lawmakers by Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.
The members who defected were: Hon. Balarabe Dabai, representing Bakori/Danja Federal Constituency, Hon. Iliyasu Abubakar, representing Batsari, Safana and Dan-Musa Federal Constituency and Hon. Salisu Yusuf, representing Mashi/Dutse Federal Constituency, all of Katsina State.
In their separate letters to the House, the lawmakers cited “division and crisis within the PDP” both at state and national levels as reasons for their decision to join the APC.
Shortly after reading their defection letters, Speaker Abbas acknowledged the presence of Governor Radda, who stood to lead the new APC members for a ceremonial handshake with the Speaker and other top members of the House leadership.
The governor departed shortly after the brief exchange, leaving behind a buzz of renewed political alignment in the chamber.
Thursday’s defections were part of a broader trend in the House, which has seen a steady wave of defections of lawmakers from the PDP and Labour Party (LP) to the ruling APC in recent weeks. Just two days earlier, six federal lawmakers from Delta State dumped the PDP for the APC, while two LP members from Enugu State defected to the PDP.
