Agbese, Ugochinyere, 28 others switch parties in House of Reps

Abuja, March 31, 2026 (NAN) No fewer than 30 members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday officially defected from their respective political parties, citing internal crises as reasons for their actions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lawmakers announced their defections in separate letters read on the floor of the house by the Speaker, Rep. Abbas Tajudeen.

Notable among the defectors is the Deputy Spokesperson for the House, Rep. Philip Agbese, who moved from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Labour Party (LP), citing internal party crisis in Benue APC.

Rep. Aliu Madaki, the Deputy Minority Leader, also moved from New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to APC.

Equally notable was the defection of an Imo-born lawmaker, Rep. Ikenga Ugochinyere, who dumped Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Party (APP).

Rep. Aliyu Abdullahi of Katsina also moved from APC to African Democratic Congress (ADC), with Rep. George Ozodinobi, the Deputy Minority Whip, defecting from LP to ADC.

Addressing newsmen after plenary, Agbese said his defection was in the best interest of the people of Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency.

He dismissed the rumours making the rounds that he was vying for the governorship candidate of LP in Benue.

The lawmaker thanked the national leadership of his new party for accepting him and other members defecting to it, pledging his loyalty ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“I want to categorically put it on record that our defection is about service to our people. It is about making ourselves available again for service, come 2027.

“The largest population of our people have taken a very firm position, to say that LP is the only available vehicle that will take us to the expected destination, come 2027.

“As a servant of the people, we have no choice than to be part of the labour family. That is why we are here today.

“Let me inform you that we commenced the registration exercise of the LP just about eight days ago, and across the three local government areas, we have recorded over 10,000 membership, beating the membership register of all the political parties that were there before us.

“So that is to say that the constituency is typically of LP; they love the party, and that is exactly where they want us to be at the moment,” he said.

Other PDP members who defected included Rep. Akanni Clement from Osun who moved to Accord; Reps. Yayal Tongo of Gombe, Mani Katami, Abdussamad Dasuki and Umar Yabo who all defected to ADC.

While Rep. Bello Shinkafi of Zamfara and Ibrahim Mohammed of Kebbi joined APC, Reps Mohammed Bassi, James Barka, Laori Bitrus, Zakaria Nyampa and Kobis Thimnu defected from PDP to APC.

Also, Rep. Midala Balami of Borno and Rep. Mohammed Bargaja of Sokoto moved from PDP to APC.

In Taraba, Rep. Jaafaru Yakubu, who represents Bali/Gassol and Rep. Sadiq Tafida representing Jalingo/Yorro/Zing moved from PDP to APC.

Similarly in Kano State, eight members announced their defections from NNPP to APC.

They are Reps. Ghali Mustapha, Shehu Bello, Dankawu Idris, Hussain Shehu, Rabiu Yusuf, Garba Chiroma, Ibrahim Mohammed and Tijjani Jobe, while Rep. Oladebo Olomololaye of Osun left PDP for Accord.

The speaker wished all the defectors well in their future political careers.

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