PDP regains control of House

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday reclaimed its dominance  in the House of Representatives as five members of the All Progressives Congress(APC) defected to the ruling party. With this development, PDP  now enjoys  a 10-margin gap over APC. While the former has 178 members, APC has reduced  from 173 to 168.
This is even as the Lower Chamber yesterday commenced debate on the 2014 budget proposal. The debate was suspended last week following objection from Hon Emmanuel Jime  to the entertainment of the debate, alleging the executive breached the Fiscal Responsibility Act by not accompanying the budget sent to the chamber with the full estimates of agencies. Speaker Aminu Tambuwal had to raise a six-man panel to advise him on the debate procedure.
The defection of five APC lawmakers to PDP, predictably took the shine on other proceedings yesterday .
APC  was not totally on the losing side as one PDP member also joined its fold. The movements announced by the Speaker, proved  an interesting drama with both sides displaying huge emotions.
The floor of the House was thrown into a rowdy session for some minutes with some PDP lawmakers  shouting “PDP, power! APC, shame!”
An attempt by the Minority Leader,  Femi Gbajabiamila, to talk, was visited with boos and jeers from PDP lawmakers.
The defectors from APC to PDP are: Hons. Lawan Shehu-Bichi (Kano); Abdulsalam Adamu (Kano); Sani Umar (Zamfara); Ibrahim Shehu Gusau (Zamfara) and Umar Bature (Sokoto).
Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru (Kaduna) moved  from PDP to APC. There was a speculation of a likely defection of some Sokoto APC members to PDP before the end of the week.
The two lawmakers from Kano, who defected to the PDP are believed to be loyalists of former governor Ibrahim Shekarau.
They were part of the 11 members from the legacy parties  in Kano State that merged to form the APC. They had addressed a press conference, distancing themselves from Shekarau’s defection.
Speaking to newsmen after the plenary session , Hon Gusau  from Zamfara State, who is nursing governorship ambition, hinged his decision to defect to the PDP on a number of factors, which included the alleged denial of his supporters an opportunity to register during the current APC registration nationwide.
He said: “On the creation of employment, there has not been any progress, only efforts I have made in my capacity as a representative, which include the education sector”.
On December 18, 2013, PDP lost 37 of its lawmakers to the APC. The development gave the latter a majority status in the chamber  as its number climbed to 173 while PDP reduced from 208 members to 171 members.





REF  http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/pdp-regains-control-house/