Defection: 84 Senators, Reps change parties in three years

A record, 84 members of both chambers of the 8th National Assembly have, so far dumped the various political parties on which they were elected during the 2015 general elections, an investigation by New Telegraph has shown.

Of these defectors are 27 senators and 57 members of the House of Representatives. Both houses comprised 469 members.

The Senate has 109 members, while the House of Representatives has 360 members. The 84 defectors represent 17.91 per cent of the total number of legislators in the National Assembly.

The study further showed that a handful of the legislators did not only dump the platforms on which they were elected, but have changed parties more than once. Change of parties among the federal legislators after the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly on June 9, 2015, commenced in the House of Representatives on June 2, 2016, when two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Tony Nwoye (Anambra) and Emmanuel Udende (Benue), jumped ship to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

New Telegraph, November 12, 2018

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