Senator Benson Agadaga (Bayelsa East) on Wednesday announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He blamed internal wrangling and a collapse of discipline and unity within the party for his actions.
In a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Senator said his defection marked ‘a time for change’ in his political journey, describing the PDP as a party that had lost its cohesion and purpose.
‘This is a notice of my defection from the PDP to the All Progressive Congress. The Bible says that there is a time for everything’, he said.
He recalled his long service to his home state under several administrations, including his roles as Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism; Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board; Special Adviser on Establishment Affairs; and Chief of Staff to the state governor.
He expressed gratitude to the PDP for the opportunities it provided him to serve, acknowledging that his rise to the Senate was made possible by the party and its former leadership.
‘The fact that I stand today as a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is due to the benevolence of the Peoples Democratic Party when it was intact and the goodwill of numerous well-wishers’, he stated.
However, he lamented that the party had degenerated into chaos.
Agadaga said: ‘It is most astonishing and deeply disheartening to observe that the world’s proud and largest political party in Africa has been torn into shreds due to internal wrangling.
‘The centre can no longer hold. The umbrella has been bastardised, and the umbrella is leaking profusely’.
He further criticised what he called ‘the incongruousness of the opposition in political diplomacy’ within the PDP, noting that consultations across political divides led him to his decision.
‘I have finally arrived at the inevitable conclusion that addressing progressivism, thinking progressively, and acting progressively is the only way to renew hope for all united Nigerians.
‘I am therefore constrained to formally declare my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party’, he said.
