Northern senator demands N100m to defect to PDP

A very vocal senator from the north-west is demanding a prepayment of at least N100 million before he would defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), TheCable has learnt.

The PDP leadership laughed off his request and this is thought to have stalled his movement to the opposition party on Tuesday.

Senate President Bukola Saraki announced the defection of 15 All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, although some have since retraced their steps in the ongoing drama at the national assembly.

The northern senator’s fate currently remains uncertain, with strong calculations that he might not be re-elected whether or not he defects to the PDP.

“We were shocked when he made the demand because his public posturing is that of a principled Nigerian,” a southern senator told TheCable.

There are no suggestions that lawmakers who defected to PDP were financially induced.

However, President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed the movements to “local politics” and his supporters are hopeful that his chances of re-election in 2019 are not adversely affected.