The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost six members of the Ogun State House of Assembly to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in the latest wave of defections linked to the party’s lingering leadership crisis.
The lawmakers who defected include Lukman Adeleye (Odogbolu), Bello Damilare (Sagamu I), Lawal Samsideen (Ogun Waterside), Oluseun Samuel (Ijebu North East), Owode Waliu (Ijebu East), and Dickson Kolawole (Remo North).
Sources within the Assembly said the legislators cited the protracted leadership crisis within the PDP as the primary reason for their decision to leave the opposition party.
Their defection marks the final batch of lawmakers elected on the PDP platform in the state legislature to switch allegiance to the APC.
The development comes amid a broader wave of defections that has affected the PDP in recent months. Within the past 10 months, the party has reportedly lost 11 governors to the APC and the Accord Party.
The PDP has also witnessed the exit of several members from both chambers of the National Assembly to the APC and other political parties.
At the national level, the party remains embroiled in a leadership dispute, with two rival factions laying claim to the party’s structure.
One faction, reportedly aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently held a national convention in Abuja.
However, the rival faction loyal to Seyi Makinde stayed away from the gathering.
The Makinde-led group had earlier conducted its own national convention in Ibadan in November 2025, but the exercise was later nullified by the Federal High Court.
The decision was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Despite the rulings, the faction has approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria seeking to overturn the lower courts’ judgments and validate the convention.
