The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has emerged as the leading opposition force in the Edo State House of Assembly following the defection of members from both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a letter addressed to the Assembly, the Edo NDC Chairman, Babatunde Olukoga, urged Speaker Blessing Agbebaku to formally acknowledge the defection of three lawmakers to the party.
The affected legislators were identified as Charity Aiguobarhueghian (Ovia North-East I Constituency), Natasha Osawaru (Egor Constituency), and Omosigho Frank (Oredo East Constituency).
Olukoga further announced internal leadership nominations within the new opposition arrangement, naming Osawaru as Minority Leader and Omosigho as Minority Whip.
However, the development faced resistance within the Assembly. The Majority Leader, Jonathan Ibhamawu, moved that the letter be stepped down, arguing that proper procedures were not followed.
He maintained that the lawmakers involved must first formally declare their defection on the Assembly floor before any party notification could be considered valid.
Following deliberations, Speaker Agbebaku set the correspondence aside, noting that the matter would be revisited once due process requirements are satisfied.
