Massive cross-carpeting hit the House of Representatives on Tuesday as 13 lawmakers officially announced their defections to various political platforms.
The lawmakers blamed deep internal crises, irreconcilable differences, and undemocratic setups within their previous parties for their exits.
In a major leadership shakeup, the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda—who recently emerged as the APC governorship candidate for Rivers State—tendered his resignation from his principal position.
Chinda expressed his gratitude to the opposition caucus for giving him the opportunity to serve and for their collective efforts in promoting democratic values within the parliament.
Chinda’s exit leaves the opposition lawmakers with only one remaining principal officer, the Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen read the official defection letters at the plenary session on Tuesday.
The movements across the parties included:
-
Alex Egbona (Cross River): Left the All {rogressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
-
Esosa Iyawe (Edo): Defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), marking his third party switch in just three weeks. This followed his loss in the APC House of Representatives primary.
-
Jonathan Gaza Gbewfi: Dumped the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the Labour Party (LP). Gbewfi has already secured the LP ticket as its governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
-
Shehu Dalhat Tafoki (Katsina): Left the APC to join the PDP.
-
Sani Lawal (Katsina): Formally resigned from the APC, though the Speaker did not announce his new party destination.
-
Benedict Etenabene: Left the Labour Party (LP) to join the PDP.
-
Oyo and Bauchi Lawmakers: The PDP suffered a massive hit, losing eight members to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). The defectors include Adebayo Adepoju (Oyo), Stanley Olajide (Oyo), Ojo Sunday Makanjuola (Oyo), Najeem Oyedeji (Oyo), Folajimi Oyekunle (Oyo), Abbas Adigun (Oyo), and Auwalu Gwalabe (Bauchi).
In his letter, Alex Egbona stated that he dumped the APC because the party structure he helped build in Cross River State had become heavily fragmented, making it impossible for him to participate in its activities. He, however, pledged his ongoing loyalty to the House leadership.
Esosa Iyawe cited irreconcilable differences within the Edo State chapter of the APC and the leadership’s refusal to address his grievances.
Iyawe’s political journey has been highly erratic; he moved from the LP to the APC in March, announced a move to the NDC just before the Sallah break, and then retracted it on May 12, claiming he never authorized the defection letter.
In his latest letter on Tuesday, he ordered the withdrawal of his May 12 disclaimer, finalizing his move to the NDC.
Meanwhile, Sani Lawal noted that his exit from the APC was to reposition himself to better serve his constituents, a sentiment shared by Shehu D. Tafoki, who stated that his move from the APC to the PDP came after careful reflection and wide consultations.
The eight lawmakers who dumped the PDP for the APM jointly claimed that the lingering leadership tussles, legal battles, and deep divisions within the main opposition party forced them out.
For Benedict Etenabene, the decision to dump the LP for the PDP was triggered by the national leadership’s dissolution of the elected state party executives, which left him without a local structure to work with during the critical primary season.
He further alleged that the LP national leadership is actively plotting to impose a presidential candidate while secretly campaigning for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
