*Ruling party may lose its majority status

The majority control of the  All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Senate is currently under threat as about 20 senators of the party’s extraction have stepped up plans to defect to three opposition political parties.

According to sources, their defection will swell the ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

The APC had earlier lost 13 senators to the opposition and will by next week lose more parliamentarians who feel aggrieved for losing their return tickets to the National Assembly during the party’s primaries.

The APC leaders were said to be worried that at the rate of defections and with the opposition PDP gaining more members, the ruling party might lose its majority status in the Senate.

During Wednesday’s plenary, Senator Dauda Jika representing Bauchi Central, announced his defection to the NNPP, bringing the number of APC senators to 67.

Currently, the five minority parties in the upper chamber have 43 senators with the PDP with 39 senators, while the Young Peoples Party (YPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), LP and NNPP having four senators each.

To stem the gale of defections, the National Chairman of the APC, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, met with the party’s senators behind close doors at the National Assembly, Abuja, Wednesday.

Adamu, who first met the  President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, before meeting the senators, said that the party was worried at the wave of the defections hitting the APC.

Speaking after the meeting with the APC caucus, he noted that it was a usual occurrence during the election period but it was enough for any leader to worry over the loss of any member.

He said: “The meeting with the senators was most fruitful. The issue of defection is an unfortunate development when it happens but this is a season where there are all sorts of behaviour in the political space and ours is not an exception.

“In every election year, this kind of thing gives cause for stakeholders to sneeze and Nigeria is not an exception so is the APC, not an exception. 

“I don’t care about what is happening in other parties, my focus is on the APC. But we all know that the occurrence is not only happening in the APC, it’s happening across other political parties too. 

“And because we are the ruling party, our problems are exaggerated before the public.”

Adamu expressed optimism that the issue was surmountable.

According to him: “There is no responsible leader that would not be worried when he loses one member not to talk of two. 

“At the moment we are faced with the stark reality of our problems. I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable.”