* Please don’t go, Chairman Adamu begs aggrieved lawmakers
A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, claimed on Wednesday that at least 22 senators have perfected plans to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the coming weeks.
Fani-Kayode, who stated this on his verified Twitter handle, said the affected senators are unhappy that they were denied the party’s ticket for the 2023 elections.
He urged the APC leaders to act fast or risk a mass exodus from the party with just eight months to the next general elections.
The ex-minister wrote: “22 APC Senators are threatening to decamp to PDP because they have been denied the tickets to return to the Senate.
“This is serious and something must be done to prevent it. Many are concerned and we urge our able National Chairman & National Secretary to reach them. We cannot afford to lose them.”
The ruling party has lost at least seven key members to PDP in the last few weeks.
The defectors included Senators Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi) Adamu Aliero (Kebbi), Dauda Jika (Bauchi), Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina), Lawal Yahaya Gumau (Bauchi), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo).
And in apparent heed of Fani-Kayode’s advice, the ruling party moved swiftly on Wednesday to avert a likely loss of its Majority status in the Senate.
To avoid further defections, National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu led Deputy National Chairman Abubakar Kyari and National Secretary Iyiola Omisore – all of them former senators – to a two-hour meeting with the APC caucus in the Senate.
Adamu reportedly pleaded with the senators to have a rethink and allow the party to address their grievances.
It was learnt that some governors were persuading the senators to shelve their planned defection.
The APC has 62 senators; PDP – 39; NNPP – three; Young Progressives Party (YPP) – two; Labour Party (LP) – one and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – one.
Both Senators Adamu and Kyari, who resigned after their election into party offices, have not been replaced.
Sources close to the session between party leaders and the APC Senate caucus said the senators listed their grievances as follows:
*Alteration of delegates lists by governors.
*Conduct of primaries in defiance of APC and INEC guidelines.
*Hijack of party primaries by APC governors.
*Non-return of experienced, hardworking and committed Senators.
*Party’s disrespect for a gentleman agreement with the Senate and House of Representatives caucuses to concede slots to Senators with robust experience.
*Preference for moneybags and defectors.
A source at the meeting said: “The Senators were led to the session by President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan.
“The discussion bordered on the increasing depletion of the APC Senate Caucus and plans by 18 more Senators to defect to opposition parties, especially the PDP.