Amos Magaji, representing Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, has defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, made the announcement on the floor of the House of Representatives during plenary on Tuesday.
Abbas, who attributed the lawmaker’s defection to the crisis in PDP, urged the APC members of the house to him to their fold.
The Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, however, counter the defection, citing Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which prescribed the consequences of defection.
Chinda quoted the section as saying that once a lawmaker defected to another political party, such a lawmaker would lose his/her seat in the house.
His point of order was, however, met with shouts of disapproval from many of his colleagues.
In his reaction to the development, the speaker urged Chinda to channel his point of order to the appropriate quarters in writing.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this section, as it were, may not be absolute, considering a proviso which appears to be a safe haven for defectors.
NAN
