By George Mgbeleke
\nThe numerical strength of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has further increased as all Senators from Kebbi State, who were elected in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, defected to the ruling All Progressives (APC).<\/p>\n
One of the Senators who defected is, Adamu Aliero, representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District and former Governor of the State.<\/p>\n
Also defected to the ruling is Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, who represents Kebbi North Senatorial District and Leader of the Senate in the 9th Assembly.<\/p>\n
The third Senator to dump the highly embattled Peoples Democratic Party, is Garba Maidoki, representing Kebbi South Senatorial District.<\/p>\n
The announcement of the defection of the three Senators was made in the presence of the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, who was in the Senate Chamber with members of the National Executive Committee of the Party.<\/p>\n
In their letters of defection, which was read by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, the politicians hinged their decision to quit the PDP on the unmitigated crisis rocking the opposition Party.<\/p>\n
They also expressed their conviction that President Bola Tinubu\u2019s \u2018Renewed Hope Agenda\u2019 was working despite daunting challenges of insecurity and other troubling economic situations in the country.<\/p>\n
Senator Adamu Aliero, in his letter, said his decision followed deep reflection and wide consultations, criticizing the PDP for becoming disconnected from the people and riddled with internal divisions and ideological confusion.<\/p>\n
Aliero added that these division had become difficult for people like him to function within the PDP, stating that the APC had shown commitment to transformation, youth empowerment, and national security, noting that returning to the APC of which he was a founding member was in the best interest of the people he represents.<\/p>\n
In his letter, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi explained that he initially resigned from the APC in June 2022 due to internal disputes in Kebbi State, saying that with those disagreements now resolved by the current Governor, it was time to return to the Party.<\/p>\n
The lawmaker stated that his decision was taken after careful consideration and consultation, and has decided to return and support the current administration\u2019s development agenda.<\/p>\n
Senator Garba Musa Maidoki who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Legislative Compliance pointed to severe security challenges in his constituency as part of the reason for his decision to dump the PDP and join the ruling APC.<\/p>\n
He stated that upon assuming office in 2023, over 100 villages in his district were occupied by bandits, but that with the recent military deployments, his people have returned and resettled, saying that he would work with the President to build a better Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Many chieftains of the APC were in the Senate to witness the defections.They included; the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje; Governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris; Deputy National Chairman of the APC, National Organizing Secretary of the APC, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Former Deputy Governor of Kebbi State; Farouk Lawan, a former influential Member of the House of Representatives; Secretary to the Kebbi State Government and Senator Uche Ekwunife, among others.<\/p>\n
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele welcomed the new members, saying their decision was not about Party affiliation, but about public service.<\/p>\n
With the recent defections, the membership configuration of the political parties in the Senate is as follows: APC \u2013 68 seats, PDP\u2013 30 seats, Labour Party\u2013 5 seats, SDP\u2013 2, seats, NNPP\u2013 1 seat, and APGA\u2013 1 seat.<\/p>\n
This brings the total number of occupied seats in the Senate to 107 out of 109 seats. The two vacant seats are those left by the late Senator Ifeanyi Uba and Senator Monday Okpebholo, who was elected Governor of Edo State.<\/p>\n
End.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The numerical strength of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has further increased as all Senators from Kebbi State, who were elected in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, defected to the ruling All Progressives (APC). One of the Senators who defected is, Adamu Aliero, representing Kebbi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1817,2625,936,497,2086,2623,2624],"class_list":["post-4074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-compliance","tag-configuration","tag-defection","tag-legislative","tag-membership","tag-numerical","tag-strength"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4075,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074\/revisions\/4075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}