- Safiu Kehinde
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has further lost its grip on Rivers state as four House of Representatives members dumped the party to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This is coming barely a week after the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, also defected from the PDP to the ruling party.
Prior to Fubara’s defection, 18 members of the state House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, had decamped to the APC- a move which marked the beginning of the PDP decades of dominance in the oil-rich state.
The tide of mass defection would again be experienced at House of Representatives on Thursday as the four Rivers lawmakers announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.
The lawmakers identified as Abiante Awake-Inombek (Andoni/Opobo Federal Constituency). Emerengwa Boniface (Ikwerre/Emuoha Federal Constituency), Goodhead Boma (Asari-Toru Federal Constituency), and Umezuruike Manuchim (Port Harcourt 1 Federal Constituency) tendered the defection letter before the lower chamber’s Speaker, Tajudeen Abass.
Video shared on X showed other APC lawmakers congratulating the defectors as Abass read their letter before the green chamber.