Despite Defections, APC Has Senate Majority Seats – Ahmed Lawan
NEWS DIGEST – The Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan, says the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) still retains the majority seats in the Senate.
Senator Lawan revealed this in a statement on Tuesday, hours after 14 APC members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly announced their defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Even though we have lost some of our colleagues to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) still retains the position of No. 1 Party with more seats than any other Party,” he told reporters in Abuja.
Lawan added, “Presently we (APC) have 53 senators, PDP has 49, African Democratic Congress (ADC) has three, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has two, and we have two vacancies.
“We lost our colleagues in Kaduna and Bauchi states; those were APC seats, very safe seats indeed. In August bye-elections will be held and by the Grace of God, the APC will reclaim the seats and the majority of the APC will increase.”
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The Senate Majority Leader gave the breakdown after a closed-door meeting with the APC National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, at the party’s National Secretariat in the nation’s capital.
He, however, said the remaining lawmakers would work very hard with their party leaders to reach out to their colleagues who defected and to make them understand why the APC remains the party to work with.
According to the lawmaker, this is because, “We have a President who has been focused, who has done so much with so little resources in Nigeria, who is busy providing infrastructure in this country.”
“I believe that every well-meaning Nigerian will do everything possible to support this kind of President. At the end of the day, we are hoping that our colleagues who have gone will come back to this party to continue in the nation-building process,” he added.
Among the senators who dumped APC for PDP were Senator Dino Melaye and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Those who also defected were Senators Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna), Abdulazeez Nyako (Adamawa), Barnabas Gemade (Benue), and Ibrahim Dambaba (Sokoto), among others.
