Why Rivers Assembly members defected to APC – Lawmaker

A member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Enemi Alabo, has given insights into the recent defection of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers to the All Progressives Congress.

Alabo, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, cited internal divisions within the PDP as a primary reason for the defection.

“We have a division in the PDP. We have cases in court concerning the secretaryship of our party. We desperately tried to reach the secretariat of our party, and we could not. As I speak to you, I can’t tell you who the secretary of my party is,” the lawmaker said.

“If I can’t even have correspondence with my party, then what am I talking about? We’ve been in the eye of the storm for a few weeks now and since then, there has been no communication from my party at the national level. What kind of party is that?”

He pointed to ongoing legal disputes related to the party’s secretaryship and expressed frustration over his inability to establish communication with the party’s secretariat.

Alabo emphasised the lack of clarity regarding the party’s leadership and further highlighted the challenges faced by Rivers State PDP members including the burning of the assembly chambers and the intimidation.

“Rivers State has been in the news. The House of Assembly has been grappling [with issues]; we’ve been bullied; we’ve been suppressed and repressed.

“Our chambers were burned down, and our members are being intimidated. The official residence of Mr. Speaker was brutally attacked by hired thugs.

“As I speak, there is no communication from the party that I called my party. And so, 27 members came together and we said to ourselves that we could not continue like this.”

In response to these challenges, Alabo explained that the lawmakers collectively decided to defect, citing Section 109 of the constitution, which allows for a party switch in the presence of a perceived division.