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APC SET TO OCCUPY 2/3 SEATS IN SENATE, APGA INCREASES TO TWO
Senators on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), need just one more seat to form 2/3 majority of membership of the 10th Senate with their current 72 in number from 59 in June, 2023.
This is as the All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA) which had only one seat from Abia South Senatorial District in 2023 , increased to two on Sunday with victory of its candidate, Emmanuel Nwachukwu from the Anambra South senatorial election conducted on Saturday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Number of APC Senators in the Senate increased from 71 to 72 on Sunday with the victory of its candidate in the Edo Central Senatorial election, Dr Joseph Ikpea.
APC had before Ipea’s victory from the bye-election in Edo Central, increased from 70 to 71 in number with defection of Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (Nasarawa West) from Social Democratic Party (SDP) into it.
Road to 2/3 majority for Senators on the platform of APC had through gale of defections, fast tracked in plenary on July 23, when through separate letters, Senators Francis Fadaunsi (Osun East), Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North East) and Sampson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South), dumped their former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recalled that the four Senators in their separate letters , attributed their defections from PDP to APC to unending crisis rocking the party with attendant factionalization which according to them made PDP to be a sinking ship that can no longer take them to the centre where desired dividends of democracy can be delivered to their constituents.
The defectors in their letters also attributed their defection to the development – driven programmes and policies of the APC government under President Bola Tinubu.
Defection of the four Senators also reduced the number of PDP Senators in the 10th Senate to 28 from 36 it had at the beginning in June 2023.
Also, Senators on the platform of Labour party which were 8 at take off in June 2023 , have reduced to 5 , just as those on the platform of New Nigeria Peoples Party ( NNPP) , have also reduced to 1 from two , similar fate suffered by SDP penultimate week with defection of Senator Wadada from it to APC.
The current configuration of membership in the 10th Senate is 72 Senators for APC , 28 for PDP , 5 for Labour Party , 2 for APGA , one for Social Democratic Party (SDP) and one for NNPP, totalling the required 109 Senators.
