Senate Shake-Up: Four PDP Lawmakers Defect To APC, Expose Rot Within Party

Four senators elected under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have officially defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), attributing their departure to “irreconcilable differences” within the PDP.

Their defection letters were read during Wednesday’s plenary session by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who instructed the Clerk of the Senate to record the changes accordingly.

The senators who have crossed over to the APC are:

• Senator Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East)

• Senator Oluwole Olubiyi (Osun Central)

• Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East)

• Senator Samson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South)

With this development, the new composition of the 109-member Senate is as follows:

• APC – 70

• PDP – 28

• Labour Party – 5

• Social Democratic Party (SDP) – 2

• New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – 1

• All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – 1

The defection further strengthens the APC’s majority in the upper chamber, significantly weakening the PDP’s minority standing.

Marking the occasion, APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru, former Minister of Labour Senator Chris Ngige, and several House of Representatives members were present in the Senate to receive the new members and celebrate the party’s expanding influence.