Members of the All Progressives Congress in the Senate and House of Representatives may defect en mass to the Peoples Democratic Party shortly before July 31, SUNDAY PUNCH has gathered .
Investigations on Saturday showed that the Reformed All Progressives Congress split from the main APC , on Wednesday, was the first phase of the plot ahead of the mass defection.
It will be reminiscent of a similar mass defection by the new Peoples Democratic Party to the APC in the run – up to the 2015 polls in 2014 .
Findings indicated that in spite of the belittling of the strength of the R – APC by the APC , many lawmakers were aggrieved and would leave the latter .
One senior source among the lawmakers told SUNDAY PUNCH that though he had chosen to stick with the APC for “personal reasons, ” he was aware that many of his colleagues would spring a surprise soon .
Fighting with govs over 2019 , power sharing cause of split
The source added , “A lot is happening but the whole truth is not being told by the APC . There is this impression that because the party has many supporters in the North – West, there is a guarantee for them .
“Members are not happy . Politics is about self interest . When governors collude with party officials to snatch the return tickets of members , you know they will seek survival elsewhere .
“Return ticket is the issue . In the APC , many of them have been told to forget 2019. If they will get it in PDP , then that is the aim of the planned mass defection. There are consultations across board and before the end of the month , they will make the defection come through .
“With the split, the R – APC has fulfilled the provision of Section 68( 1 )( g ) of the 1999 Constitution .
There are sufficient grounds to leave the APC today with the division created by the split .”
The section reads , “A member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat if “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party , he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that house was elected – PROVIDED that his membership of the latter political is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member…
It was learnt that as many as 80 Reps were on standby , in the first instance , to defect to join the alliance with the PDP .
The source added , “Take it or leave it , the APC can no longer beat its chest to say it has the loyalty of members in many states, particularly in the North -Central states, where herdsmen kill villagers at will, and with no action by the Federal Government.
“States like Plateau , Benue , Nasarawa, Kogi , Kwara , Taraba contributed in swinging the votes in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 .
“So , you are looking at an alliance between these states and the almost wholesale support for the PDP in the South- East and the South- South and you will get the picture.
“Even in the North – West, the APC will lose members in Kaduna , Katsina, Jigawa and Gombe states.
The situation is not different in the South- West, where the APC National Leader , Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, can no longer secure mass support like he did in 2015 .”
Source: Punch
