Two members of the House of Representatives, Ephraim Nwuzi and David
Abel, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All
Progressives Congress on Wednesday October 7.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, during plenary, read
separate letters from Nwuzi who represents Etche/Omuma Federal
Constituency in Rivers State, and Abel who represents
Gashaka/Kurmi/Sardauna Federal Constituency in Taraba State, announcing
their defections.
Their defection caused an uproar in the house as the Deputy Minority
Leader, Toby Okechukwu; Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu; and leader of
the PDP caucus, Kingsley Chinda, separately raised constitutional points
of order, asking Gbajabiamila to declare their seats vacant as there
were no crises in the PDP in the defecting lawmakers' respective states.
The Speaker, however, described leaders of the opposition as
hypocrites, recalling that as Minority Leader in the previous Assemblies
he also protested against defections to the PDP but his arguments were
dismissed.
Gbajabiamila noted that the PDP failed to lay the foundation of sanctioning illegal defections while in power.
“Like you used to tell me, your points are noted. Any more defections?”Gbajabiamila responded.
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