Breaking: House Of Reps Lawmaker Dumps ADC For APC

The lawmaker representing the Ijumu/Kabba Bunu Federal Constituency of Kogi State, Hon. Idris Salman, has officially defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The announcement was made during Tuesday’s plenary session in the House of Representatives by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.

Salman’s defection was formalized through a letter submitted to the Speaker, who read it to the house.

Following the announcement, Minority Whip Ali JC raised a point of order, calling for Salman’s seat to be declared vacant as per the provisions of the constitution.

He argued, “The seat of any House of Reps member or Senator should be declared vacant if he or she defects from his party to another party.”

The Nigerian Constitution stipulates that lawmakers who switch parties without a justified reason—such as a division in their original party—should forfeit their seats.

Despite the Minority Whip’s challenge, Speaker Abbas ruled him out of order, effectively allowing Salman to retain his seat under the APC banner.

In a related development, the Senator representing Imo East Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi, has defected to the APC.

The decision of Onyewuchi, who won the 2023 election into the Senate on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), to defect to the APC was read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday.