- The defection was announced during the Tuesday plenary session
- The ruling APC is now in full control of all Benue federal seats
- He serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on Inland Waterways
A member of the House of Representatives for the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State, Ojema Ojotu, has officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Eko Hot Blog reports that the defection was announced during the Tuesday plenary session by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Benjamin Kalu, who read the lawmaker’s letter to the Green Chamber.
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Ojotu anchored his decision to leave the PDP on the party’s perennial crisis. He stated that the move followed “consultation with his constituents, family members and political associates.”
The switch is significant because the APC previously held 10 out of the 11 federal seats in the state. With Ojotu’s defection, the ruling APC is now in full control of all Benue federal seats in the House of Representatives.
The defection faced immediate opposition, as the House Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, called for the presiding officer to declare Ojotu’s seat vacant.
Madaki cited Constitutional Point of Order 68 (1) (g), which requires a seat to be vacated if the member leaves their sponsoring party without a division in that party.
However, the House Majority Leader, Ibrahim Halims, countered the challenge, relying on Order 7 to argue that a member can leave when an “unresolved crisis in a party… cannot resolve its crisis” to “protect his future.”
The Deputy Speaker subsequently welcomed Ojotu to the APC and assured him of the party’s support. Ojotu currently chairs the House Committee on Inland Waterways.
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