Ojema Ojotu, the lawmaker representing the Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives, has formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defection was announced during Tuesday’s plenary session by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who read Ojotu’s letter of defection before the House.
Previously, the APC held 10 out of the 11 federal seats from Benue State in the Green Chamber.
With Ojotu’s move, the ruling APC now occupies all of the state’s federal constituencies in the House of Representatives.
In a letter read on the floor by Kalu, Ojotu anchored his decision to leave the PDP on the perennial crisis involving the PDP.
“After consultation with his constituents, family members and political associates, I have decided to dump the PDP for the APC,” he said.
The defection was not without a challenge from the opposition as the House Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, called on the presiding officer to declare Ojotu’s seat vacant.