Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Yahaya Abdullahi have formally resigned their positions as the minority and majority leaders of the Senate respectively.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan announced this while reading their resignation letters at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday.
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Their resignation followed their defection from the political parties on which they were elected as senators.
Abdullahi and Abaribe fell out with their parties and switched to others following their failure to secure tickets to contest 2023 elections.
While Abaribe dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Abdullahi defected to PDP from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lawan said: “Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe decamped from the PDP to APGA. He also has resigned his position as Minority Leader of this chamber. With this, the position of the Minority Leader is vacant for the PDP to fill.
“I wish our dear friend, Senator Abaribe, very successful membership of his new party. Now, we have APGA represented in the Senate in the person of Senator Abaribe just like YPP.”
The Senate President commended Abaribe for his leadership role as opposition leader in the Red Chamber.
Lawan said despite his position, Abaribe “supported worthy causes of this administration.”
Also, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, in his resignation letter, said he left APC due to lack of internal democracy in the party.
He said Kebbi State chapter of the party has been hijacked by the state governor, and that the party’s national leadership failed to resolve the crisis rocking APC in the state.
“Politics is local. I can’t continue to work for the government at the centre while my people are wallowing in abject poverty.
“After failing to get justice in APC, I have moved to the PDP,” Senator Abdullahi said.
The letter of Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), announcing his defection from APC to PDP, was also read on the floor of the Senate.
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