APGA Lawmakers Deny Being Courted By PDP To Break APC Dominance Of House Of Reps

SCREEN GRAB OF THE 37 REP MEMBERS THAT RECETLY DEFECTED TO APC FILING PAST SPEAKER AMINU TAMBUWAL

Moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to break the dominance of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives suffered a huge blow as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) members of the lower chamber have declared they are not joining the PDP.

Following the defection of 37 PDP members of the House of Representatives to the APC in December, the ruling party has been making frantic efforts to ensure that it regains total control of the House which is now dominated by the opposition with 172 members; five more than the number of PDP rep members.

Consequently, the PDP moved to woo members of the Labour Party and APGA to join its fold in order to regain its position as the majority party in the House.

Confirming the development, one of the leaders of the APGA caucus in the House, Rep Victor Ogene (APGA, Anambra) yesterday said that the five APGA members in the House are not ready to shift platforms “for any amount” with a view to tilting the majority of the lawmakers to one political party.

“All I know is that the five APGA members in the House of Representatives are from Anambra State and besides being from Anambra state; we represent a political movement that represent the consciousness of the Igbo nation. So we can’t sell our platform for any amount,” he said.

Rep Ogene, who is the deputy spokesperson of the House, however, dispelled the rumor making the rounds that PDP is trying to woo the APGA members, saying “I have not met anybody since the 21st of December, when we vacated for holiday”.

He added, “Nobody woos anybody to join a political party. Even the members who went to APC, APC did not woo them. Out of their own political calculation, they decided that at that point in time to join APC. So for us we are comfortable in where we are and nobody can try to woo us”.

Rep Ogene, however, expressed the readiness of his fellow APGA colleagues to support any decision by any party in the chamber “depending [on] the circumstance, we might offer support in taking decision, but in terms of moving the entire structure to another party, that is not in our plan”, he averred.