National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, met with senators elected on the platform of the ruling party behind closed doors, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting with the APC caucus in the senate, Adamu said the party was worried by the gale of defections among senators. He however, said it was a usual occurrence in election periods and not peculiar to the ruling party.

Two senators from Bauchi and Imo states resigned their membership of APC and PDP, on Wednesday, further compounding the woes of their parties.

That was as other senators from the ruling party, who were said to have planned their defection for next week gave conditions under which they would halt the trend. They said only justice could reverse the gale of defections currently rocking the party.

A chieftain of the APC and former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, hinted that no fewer than 22 more APC senators might dump the party for the main opposition PDP soon.

Similarly, the new Senate Minority Leader, Senator Philip Aduda, on Wednesday, boasted that the opposition PDP would soon form majority in the senate if the gale of defection by APC senators was sustained.

In a related development, Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was empowered by both constitutional and electoral provisions to reject the names of candidates from political parties that ought not to be on the ballot in any election.

Speaking after addressing the senators, Adamu said, “The meeting with the senators was most fruitful. The issue of defection is an unfortunate development, when it happens, but this is a season where there are all sorts of behaviours in the political space and ours is not an exception. In every election year, this kind of thing gives cause for stakeholders to sneeze and Nigeria is not an exception, so is the APC not an exception.

“I don’t care about what is happening in other parties, my focus is on the APC. But we all know that the occurrence is not only happening in the APC; it’s happening across other political parties, too. And because we are the ruling party, our problems are exaggerated before the public.”

The APC chairman said he did not know if the problem of defection was surmountable.

He added, “There is no responsible leader that would not be worried, when he loses one member, not to talk of two. At the moment, we are faced with the stark reality of our problems.

“I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable. We are in politics, I don’t know what would happen tomorrow, and nobody does.”

Senators Lists Conditions to Halt Defection

THISDAY learnt from some senators, who attended the meeting that Adamu, that he cited intelligence reports available to the party leadership as reason for convening the parley.

A senator from the North-west told THISDAY, on the condition of anonymity, that the APC national chairman said he learnt that some APC lawmakers were planning massive defections on the floor of the two chambers next week.

But he said his colleagues told Adamu that only justice could reverse the gale of defections rocking the party, noting that they sought the immediate intervention of the APC leadership to stem the tide.

The senator said, “The national chairman said the essence of his meeting with us was to find out the reasons APC senators were defecting. Adamu said he had intelligence reports that many senators were planning massive defections next week and he came to find out what could be done to halt the action.

“Some senators actually stood up to give different scenarios of the type of injustices they suffered in the hands of their governors. Adamu, after listening to them, promised that the National Working Committee of the APC and the leadership of the senate would meet soon to address the lawmakers’ grievances.”

No fewer than eight APC senators, including the Majority Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, have so far dumped the ruling party on the floor of the red chamber.

Two senators from Bauchi and Imo states resigned their membership of both the APC and the PDP. Senator Dauda Jika, represents Bauchi Central and was elected on the platform of APC, while Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, representing Imo East Senatorial District, was elected on the platform of the PDP.

Jika and Onyewuchi stated their decisions in separate letters addressed to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, where they gave reasons for resigning their membership of APC and PDP, to join the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Labour Party (LP), respectively.

Jika said, “I hereby wish to notify you of my defection from the APC to the NNPP, whose ideals are in line with my political aspirations.”

Onyewuchi, on his part, said, “I wish to inform Mr. President and the distinguished senators of my defection from the PDP to the Labour Party. This is after due consultation with my family, constituents and supporters. This will enable me participate fully in the movement for a new Nigeria.”

Wednesday’s defection brought the number of APC senators to 61, with members of the minority parties standing at 48.

The minority parties in the senate were five as at, Wednesday, June 22. They are the PDP, Young Peoples Party (YPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), NNPP, and Labour Party.