{"id":123146,"date":"2025-10-22T02:25:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T01:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=123146"},"modified":"2025-10-22T02:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T01:25:59","slug":"pdp-rep-member-decamps-to-apc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/pdp-rep-member-decamps-to-apc\/","title":{"rendered":"PDP Rep member decamps to APC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Tracy Moses<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The member representing Apa\/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State, Hon. Ojema Ojotu, has swapped the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ojotu, who serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Inland Waterways, announced his defection through a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, which was read during Tuesday\u2019s plenary session.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Explaining the reasons for his decision, the lawmaker cited persistent internal wrangling, unresolved leadership disputes, and deep-seated divisions within the PDP at both national and state levels. He said these challenges had rendered the party ineffective and incapable of providing direction.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAfter extensive consultations with my family, political allies, and constituents, I have chosen to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party that I believe offers greater stability, unity, and a better platform to advance the interests of my people and contribute to Nigeria\u2019s progress,\u201d Ojetu stated.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He signed the letter as Chief Hon. (Pastor) Ojema Ojetu, Ph.D., and requested that his new political alignment be duly reflected in the records of the House.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Following the announcement, Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki, who represents Dala Federal Constituency of Kano State, raised a constitutional objection, referencing Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Madaki argued that Ojetu\u2019s defection was unconstitutional, insisting that since he was elected under the PDP, he could not legally switch parties before the end of his tenure without losing his seat.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMr. Speaker, the law is clear, any member elected on the ticket of a political party who defects to another before the expiration of that term automatically forfeits his seat. There is no evidence of division in the PDP to justify this move,\u201d Madaki contended.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In response, Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims, disagreed, stressing that the Constitution allows for defection where a political party is enmeshed in internal crises.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe same constitutional provision gives room for a member to leave if his political party is facing serious internal divisions or leadership crises,\u201d Halims maintained.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">After considering arguments from both lawmakers, Speaker Abbas ruled Madaki\u2019s point of order unsustained.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He formally received Ojetu into the APC fold, congratulating him and urging him to cooperate with his new colleagues in the service of his constituents.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMy brother who has just crossed over, you are welcome to the ruling party. Ensure that you continue to represent your people effectively,\u201d the Speaker stated.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tracy Moses The member representing Apa\/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State, Hon. Ojema Ojotu, has swapped the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Ojotu,&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PDP Rep member decamps to APC - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/pdp-rep-member-decamps-to-apc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PDP Rep member decamps to APC - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tracy Moses The member representing Apa\/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State, Hon. 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