Drama as 2 PDP reps defect to APC

There was a mild drama on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday when two members of the opposition PDP defected to the APC.

Reps. Zaphaniah Jisalo from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Ahmed Tijjani from Kogi State who were hitherto members of PDP declared their defection to APC on the floor through separate letters read during plenary.

The two lawmakers said the PDP in their various states had been enmeshed in crises, hence their decision to defect.

But members of the PDP, led by Minority Whip, Yakubu Barde, and Ossai Nicholas Ossai, raised points of order, saying the seats of the two lawmakers should be declared vacant for defecting.

In the process of the argument, Deputy Chief Whip, Pally Iriase, jokingly referred to Ossai as a “fake lawyer”, a development that led to a rowdy session in the House.

However, Speaker Yakubu Dogara calmed the lawmakers after a few minutes.

The speaker also said that the constitution was not specific on the nature of crisis that could be referred to as division in any political party, hence the defections could be said to be right.

The defections have now brought the number of APC lawmakers to 230, while PDP has 126.