No fewer than 20 senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have concluded plans to dump the ruling party.
It was gathered that the senators have planned to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party, and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The Star had reported that the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, met with the party’s senators at the National Assembly complex behind closed doorsd on Wednesday.
Adamu, who arrived at the National Assembly complex at about 2 pm, moved straight to the office of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, for a brief meeting before the general meeting.
Earlier on Tuesday, three senators of the APC resigned their membership of the ruling party.
The senators are Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North), Lawal Gumau (Bauchi South), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North).
While Kaita and Alimikhena defected to PDP, Gumau, on the other hand, defected to NNPP.
The defection by the three lawmakers has reduced the total number of APC senators from 70 to 67 in the upper chamber.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting with the APC senators, Adamu said it was a usual occurrence during the election period but it was enough for him as a leader of the ruling to worry over the loss of any member.
READ ALSO: Adamu meets APC senators behind closed doors
He added that he was not sure if the problem of defection would persist in the party but he had met with the APC senators, stressing that he believed the issue was surmountable.
However, a senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that Adamu met with the senators to dissuade them from defecting from the APC.
The lawmaker disclosed that no fewer than 20 senators have concluded plans to dump the APC for other parties, particularly the PDP within the next week.
He said: “The party chairman came to have a meeting with the APC senators because he said that they learnt through intelligence that not lesser than 20 more senators were planning to defect to other parties within the next one week.
“The chairman asked each of the aggrieved senators to lay bare their grievances which we all did one after the other. Having heard our problems, the chairman instructed that we put them into writing,”PUNCH quoted the senator as saying.
The lawmaker further revealed that Adamu promised that the party would look into the issues raised and do something about it as it was a dangerous time for the party’s lawmakers to defect because it was the election year and such moves were grave for any political party.
The source added: “The chairman asked us all to put all of our complaints into writing after which the APC caucus leaders would sit with the National Working Committee and look into the issues raised.
“Senator Adamu further stated the party would then see what it can do to help the situation.
“He, however, stated that lawmakers who do not feel comfortable with the help provided by the parties can then leave. But leaving without proper consultations with the party sends a wrong signal of discord. It presents the party as if in disarray and without proper leadership.”
“This is an election year and it’s not good to present the party as having leadership issues,” the senator quoted Adamu to have said.
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