A total of 36 members of the House of Representatives have defected from Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Of this number, 32 joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while four joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Announcing their defection on Tuesday during plenary, the lawmakers cited division at all levels of the APC as the reason for their defection.
Prominent among the defectors are Sani Rano, Barry Mpigi, Ali madaki, Dickson Tackighir, Hassan Saleh, Danburam Nuhu, Mark Gbilah, Razak Atunwa, Ahmed Garba Bichi, Abdulsamad Dasuk and Zakari Mohammed.
Neither the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, nor his deputy, Yusuff Lasun, was named among the defectors.
Earlier in the day, 15 senators announced their defection from the APC, majority moving to the PDP.