13 Reps dump parties as defections hit House of Reps

By Victor Idajili

Thirteen members of the House of Representatives switched parties yesterday as plenary resumed after the Sallah break.

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen read 13 letters of defection at the session. The moves reshaped party strength in Oyo, Bauchi, Katsina, Delta, Edo and Nasarawa.

 
Six lawmakers from the Oyo State caucus defected from the PDP to the Allied People’s Movement. They are Anthony Adebayo, Adedeji Olajide, Sunday Makanjuola, Oyedeji Oyeshina, Fola Oyekunle and Adigun Adekunle.

In their letters, they cited a protracted crisis and leadership tussles in the PDP as the reason for leaving. They said the APM offers a better platform for their 2027 ambitions.

With the switch, Governor Seyi Makinde now has six of Oyo’s 14 House of Reps members in the APM with him.

The PDP lost Auwalu Gwalabe of Bauchi State to the APM, but picked up two members.

Shehu Dalhatu, who represents Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa in Katsina, left the ruling APC for the PDP. “After careful consideration of the issues in the APC and having consulted with my constituents, I have resolved to join the PDP,” he wrote.

Delta lawmaker Etanabene Benedict also moved from the Labour Party to the PDP, blaming “crisis in the LP” in the South-South state.

The APC lost Alex Egbona to the PDP. Egbona said his “commitment to the House and his constituency remains unshakable.”

Edo lawmaker Esosa Iyawe defected again, this time from the APC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress. It’s his third party switch in three years. He blamed “irreconcilable differences with the Edo State chapter of the APC.”

Nasarawa lawmaker Gbefwi Gaza announced his defection from the Social Democratic Party to the Labour Party.

The wave of defections brings fresh calculations for party leadership in the House ahead of 2027.