Three members of the House of Representatives have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing persistent internal crises and leadership disputes within their former party.
The lawmakers are Inuwa Garuba, representing Yamaltu/Deba Federal Constituency of Gombe State; Abdullahi El-Rasheed, representing Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency of Gombe State; and Mohammed Audu, representing Karim Lamido/Lau/Ardo-Kola Federal Constituency.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, announced their defections during plenary on Wednesday after reading separate letters from the affected lawmakers.
In their letters, the legislators attributed their decision to what they described as deepening internal crises, leadership disputes and irreconcilable divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party.
The party has in recent months faced a leadership crisis that has polarised it into rival factions, raising concerns about cohesion within one of Nigeria’s major opposition parties.
From a legislative and policy perspective, the defections are expected to strengthen the numerical advantage of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives, potentially influencing legislative negotiations, committee alignments and the passage of government-backed policies.
Political analysts say the development could also reshape political alignments in the affected constituencies ahead of future electoral cycles.
