Exodus of Nigerian senators knocks Buhari’s ruling party
Fourteen of the 15 legislators who left Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress join the opposition
Abuja — Fifteen senators quit Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s ruling party on Tuesday and the country’s third most senior politician said he might follow suit, in a sign of growing rifts in the former military ruler’s restive political camp. Fourteen of the 15 legislators left the All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a letter read on the Senate floor stated. Another senator later left the ruling party while parliament was in session. Senate President Bukola Saraki, the number three political leader in Africa’s biggest economy, told Reuters in an interview a few hours later that the chances of him also leaving the APC were "very, very high". The defections, and the suggestion that there may be more to come, have taken place just weeks after a faction within the party said it no longer backed Buhari. The fissures threaten to split support for Buhari within powerful patronage networks and among voters ahead of the presidential po...
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