BREAKING: Sokoto Assembly Speaker Dumps APC, Joins PDP

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State can now heave a sigh of relief after poaching the Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu Muhammad Achida to his side.

Tambuwal was in the APC until 2018 when he dumped the party for the PDP. He won re-election with a slight margin but the opposition APC in the state outnumbered him in the House of Assembly.

Until the defection of Achida to the PDP, the APC holds the sway in the 30-member State House of Assembly with 16 members while the PDP had 14.

But with Achida now on the side of the Governor,  plus another lawmaker, Murtala Bello Maigona, who also dumped the APC, the PDP now has 16 lawmakers while the APC trails behind with 14.

Achida presented the letter of his defection to the assembly during Thursday’s plenary.

Maigona, who represents Wammako 2 Constituency, also presented his letter of defection to the Assembly.

The defection of Achida and his colleague to the PDP may not be unconnected to Tambuwal’s presidential aspiration.

The Sokoto Governor is contesting the presidential ticket of the PDP and may have poached the two lawmakers to solidify his position in the party’s primary since lawmakers are among the statutory delegates during the election.