The Senate Spokesperson, Ajibola Basiru, has reacted to the planned defection of 22 Senators elected under the All Progressives Congress, APC, platform in the National Assembly.
KEMI FILANI NEW had reported that former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, disclosed that 22 APC senators have threatened to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, after losing their re-election bid in the party’s primary election.
Bashir, who represents Osun Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, while on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday evening, said the gale of defection would not hurt the APC’s chances in the Osun governorship poll.
He said, “Politics is local. The politics of the National Assembly is different from the politics of Osun State.
“And I don’t know any of the existing federal lawmakers from the State of Osun that has defected from the party.
“And if the argument is based on defection, I don’t see how the defection of someone in Kebbi, Jigawa or Katsina States will affect the fortune of my party in the State of Osun.
“Secondly, as at the time the National Assembly was inaugurated on June 11, 2019, there were 63 National Assembly members (senators) belonging to APC. Today even with the defection of some of our members, we still stood at 57, that means we have four Senators in advantage over the PDP.
“And to the question of why people are defecting, they may have their reasons. Some of them may have lost popularity in their party or peculiar changes they face in the party. But what I know is that the South West has spoken in Ekiti and would speak louder in Osun.”
