The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, has said that in spite of the recent defection of two of PDP lawmakers to the ruling APC, the party still remains a viable opposition in the country.
Chinda stated this in Abuja on Thursday, adding that the party was just in a ‘phase of interest pursuit’ rather than undergoing a protracted crisis.
“The PDP is still a viable opposition; we are not in any protracted crisis; rather, what we are passing through is just caused by pursuit of interest.
“PDP is not the only political party with internal challenges; every other party faces the same situation at one time or the other,” he said.
The minority leader, who reaffirmed the unity in PDP, urged defecting members to follow the proper procedure.
He said the party had pending cases in court seeking interpretation to the consequences of defection without proper procedures, and called for reorientation and education of party ideology in order to prevent reckless defections.
“Defections, in developed climes, are not common because every political party has its ideology,’’ he said.
According to him, membership of every political party in developed democracy is predicated on the ideology of the party.
“In Nigeria, most parties don’t have ideologies. In other climes, people cling to parties according to their ideologies,” he said.
Chinda, however, said that plans were on by the minority caucus in the house of representatives to devise means of reducing defections without due process.
Two of the PDP members in the house had, between Tuesday and Wednesday, defected to the ruling.
They were Reps Amos Magaji (Zango Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna) and Salisu Koko (Koko-Besse/Maiyama Constituency of Kebbi State).
