Garba Koko, a member of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, has defected to ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Koko, who represents the Besse/Maiyama Yema federal constituency, announced his defection on Wednesday via a letter read on the floors by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen.

The legislator said in the letter that he resolved to dump the PDP the “prolonged and protracted” crisis in the party.

However, Kingsley Chinda, the minority leader, countered Mr Koko, saying there is no protracted crisis in the PDP. “It is important to correct the erroneous impression. There is no protracted problem in PDP,” he said.

Mr Chinda said that all political parties in the country, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Labour Party (LP), have one form of internal wrangling.

He asked the speaker to declare the seat of the defected lawmaker vacant in line with section 68 of the 1999 constitution which outlines the conditions under which a member can lose their seat.

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“The House should implement the constitution by declaring the seat vacant. Let us not continue to set a bad precedent,” he said.

Responding, Mr Tajudeen said the House does not have such powers but only the court.

The defection comes about 24 hours after Amos Magaji from Kaduna announced his defection from the PDP to the APC.