ABUJA, NIGERIA — The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has suffered a fresh legislative setback as three sitting members of the House of Representatives formally dumped the party during Wednesday’s plenary.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, announced the official notices of defection to lawmakers on the floor of the chamber, confirming their structural shift to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The Defection Breakdown
The formal switch highlights a growing fracture within the lower chamber’s ruling majority, as lawmakers scramble to reposition themselves ahead of upcoming general elections. According to the official notices read during the session:
- Move to the PRP: Two of the defecting lawmakers explicitly transferred their political allegiance and structures to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
- Move to the ADC: The third federal lawmaker officially pitched his tent with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), expanding the opposition party’s legislative footprint.
The sudden realignment triggered immediate celebrations from opposition lawmakers inside the green chamber, while APC leadership stalwarts looked on with visible concern.
The Catalyst: The Primary Election Fallout
Inside sources within the National Assembly indicate that these high-profile exits are the direct consequence of the recently concluded party primary elections across various states.
Similar to the sudden policy reversals seen in the Senate—where frustrated lawmakers are now demanding mandatory electronic transmission of results—these House members feel deeply marginalized by the APC internal apparatus. Having been denied return tickets by state governors and party executives who handpicked preferred alternatives, the lawmakers chose to abandon the party to secure their political survival on alternative platforms.
The defectors cited deep internal divisions, factionalism, and a total lack of internal democracy within their state chapters of the APC as the statutory constitutional grounds for their defections.
A Shifting Balance of Power
While the APC still retains its working majority within the House of Representatives, political strategists warn that this trio of defections could trigger a cascading wave of exits in the coming weeks. Dozens of aggrieved incumbents who lost out during the primaries are reportedly in advanced talks with opposition blocs like the PDP, NNPP, and Labour Party.
With public trust in the ruling establishment severely strained by mass street protests over school abductions and rising domestic insecurity, opposition parties are capitalizing on the influx of experienced legislators to build formidable regional coalitions capable of challenging the APC’s dominance at the national level.
