Chris Nkwonta, a House of Representatives member from Abia State, has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Nkwonta, who represents Ukwa East/Ukwa West Federal Constituency, announced his defection in a letter addressed to the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, which was read aloud during Wednesday’s House session.
The move was met with resistance from the Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki, who challenged the defection by invoking Order 68 of the 1999 Constitution. Madaki argued that a lawmaker is only allowed to switch parties if there is an internal crisis within the party that sponsored their election.
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However, Speaker Tajudeen overruled Madaki’s objection, citing information that indicated a factional split within the PDP, which he claimed justified Nkwonta’s defection. This statement was met with cheers from members of the APC in the chamber.
The defection has sparked debates, with questions about the legitimacy of the claims of a PDP crisis being central to the controversy.
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