24 October 2018•Update: 24 October 2018
By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS, Nigeria
The lone senator of Nigeria’s opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the oil-rich Rivers state has defected to the ruling All-Progressives Congress (APC), weakening the former’s hold in one of its strongest turfs.
Osinakachukwu Ideozu (Rivers West) announced his defection on Wednesday, stripping the PDP of any senator in the 109-member upper legislative house.
Each of Nigeria's 36 states has three senators, while the country's capital Abuja has one. The remaining two senators from the state -- Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East) and Magnus Abe (Rivers South East) -- are members of the ruling APC.
“We welcome our brother Senator Ideozu to the majority party. We congratulate him for his courageous decision,” Senate Majority Leader Ahmed Lawan said at the plenary, shortly before the Senate adjourned for two weeks.
Rivers, which currently has a PDP governor, is considered one of the opposition party's impregnable strongholds ahead of general elections next February, but the defection meant it may well be a battleground state.
Although the ruling party recently lost federal lawmakers, it still retains a slight majority across the two houses of parliament.
That defection came on a day the two parties lost a member each at the House of Representatives.
Mohammed Soba from northwest Kaduna resigned his APC membership, while Hassan Omale from the north-central Kogi state defected from the PDP to the Action Democratic Party, one of the country's numerous fringe parties.
