A member of the House of Representatives, Ojotu Ojema, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defection was announced during Tuesday’s plenary, presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu.
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Just before the announcement, the House had suspended its rules to allow the Deputy Governor of Benue State to enter the chamber and observe the proceedings.
Reading from a letter addressed to the Speaker, Mr Kalu said Mr Ojema, who chairs the House Committee on Inland Waterways and represents (Apa/Agatu constituency of Benue state), cited unresolved internal crises and leadership tussles within the PDP as reasons for his defection.
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“I wish to formally notify the Honourable Speaker and my esteemed colleagues of my decision to resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party with effect from Wednesday, 8 October 2025,” the letter read in part.
“This decision has become necessary due to the persistent internal crisis, unresolved leadership tussles, and deep divisions within the party from the national to the federal constituency level, giving the party a rudderless direction.
“After wide consultations with my family, key stakeholders, political associates, and the good people of my constituency, I have decided to align with the All Progressives Congress (APC), a platform which offers a more stable and progressive environment to continue serving the interests of my people and contribute to national development.”
Following the announcement, the Minority Leader of the House, Ali Isa, raised a constitutional point of order, citing Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.
He argued that since Mr Ojema was elected on the PDP platform and there was no recognised division in the party, his seat should be declared vacant.
“Being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by one political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which the House was elected, that member loses his seat,” Mr Isa stated.
“I therefore call on the presiding officer, based on this constitutional provision, to declare his seat vacant because there is no division in the PDP that brought him to this House.”
However, the Deputy Leader of the House, Abdullahi Ali, countered the motion, arguing that the PDP was indeed facing deep-rooted crises at various levels.
“Whenever there’s a crisis in a political party, an unresolved crisis at the national, state, and local levels the person concerned can decide to leave that party to secure his political future,” Mr Ali said.
Wave of defections
Mr Ojema’s defection adds to the growing list of PDP lawmakers who have recently dumped the opposition party for the ruling APC.
Just last week, three PDP members Hussaini Ahmed (Kaduna South), Aliyu Abdullahi (Ikara/Kubau), and Sadiq Abdullahi (Sabon Gari), defected to the APC, citing internal crises within the PDP.
The series of defections come amid reports of worsening internal divisions and leadership disputes within the PDP at both national and state levels.
