Tinubu Seeks Senate’s Nod For Amupitan As Three Reps Dump PDP For APC

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday urged the Senate to screen and confirm the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) for the office of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Tinubu’s request was conveyed through a presidential communication to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, which was read by Akpabio at plenary.

President Tinubu appointed Amupitan last week, following a confirmation by the Council of State.

Amupitan is replacing Prof Mahmood Yakubu, whose tenure as INEC chairman has just expired.

Akpabio referred the President’s letter to the committee of the whole Senate for further legislative action.

In another development, three members of the House of Representatives from Kaduna State have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defecting lawmakers are Abdulkarim Ahmed (Kaduna South), Aliyu Mustapha (Ikara/Kubau), and Sadiq Ango Abdullahi (Sabon Gari).

They announced their defection in separate letters read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.

The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, was in the Reps chamber to witness the defection.

The fresh defections have reduced the number of Kaduna PDP Rep members from 10 to three while raising the APC from an initial four to 13 members.

The defecting reps hinged their decision on what they called “internal divisions and irreconcilable differences within the PDP”.

According to them, the instability in the PDP had prevented them from fulfilling campaign promises to their constituents.

However, Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda, raised a feeble voice to oppose the decision of the lawmakers to defect on the grounds of division within the PDP.

Chinda cited Section 68(1g) of the Nigerian Constitution, which provides for how a member can defect from the party on which platform they were elected.

According to him, the development within the PDP did not qualify as a division in the eyes of the law and can therefore not be a ground for the lawmakers’ defection.

Chinda urged the Speaker to declare the seats of the three lawmakers vacant, as required by law.