Nigeria, though practicing multi-party democracy, appears to be functioning as a de facto one-party state following ongoing gale of defections by politicians in the minority political parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress. Sunday Aborisade reports that the development which has hit the Senate portends danger for the nation’s parliament.
Since the All Progressives Congress (APC) assumed power in 2015, the party has consolidated control over the Executive, the National Assembly, and a majority of state governments.
Following the defection of Delta North Senator, Ned Nwoko, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC, the number of senators on the platform of the PDP, had reduced to 33, while those of APC increased to 64. The figure will jump to 66 when the National Assembly resumes next week and two senators, KawuSumaila and Neda Imasuen formally defect to the APC on the floor of the Senate. Sumaila, representing Kano Central, had formally dumped the New Nigeria Peoples Party while Imasuen also resigned his membership of the Labour Party.