Akwa Ibom Senator defects to APC

The desire of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC to fully control the Nigerian Senate by gaining the critical two-thirds majority needed to take full decisions is gradually coming to reality.

This followed the defection of another senator to its fold from
the minority PDP on Thursday.

The APC has never hidden its desire to fully control the Nigerian Senate just like the opposition PDP did when it was in power.

Senator Nelson Effiong of Akwa Ibom South senatorial district says he is defecting due to the prolonged crisis in the PDP.

Senator Effiong’s defection to the APC has increased the ruling party’s number to sixty four, just nine seats short of the required seventy three majority seats needed to impeach presiding officers or take key national decisions such as confirmation of presidential nominees.

With the new numbers, APC has also made inroads into southern Nigeria and now has three South-South senators and one South-East senator.

The only South-East APC senator in the Senate says he is expecting others from the Zone to defect and join him in a matter of weeks.

The composition of the eight Senate is now as follows: APC 64 senators, PDP 43 Senators and Labour Party 1 senator.

One seat is vacant.

At the inauguration of the National Assembly, APC had 59 seats and PDP 49.

Only a seat from Borno Central was empty in the Upper Chamber then.