President meets APC senators hours after Melaye, Kwankwaso exit from party

President Muhammadu Buhari has been scheduled to meet All Progressive Congress,

In a report by Punch, the scheduled meeting between the President and the APC Senators is to hold at the First Lady Conference Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Dino Melaye and thirteen other lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) dumped the ruling party.

The lawmakers made their exit from the party public and official after a notice of their defection was contained in a letter forwarded to Senate President Bukola Saraki.

The meeting between President Buhari and APC Senators was confirmed by the President's Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad.

ALSO READ:Kwankwaso, Melaye, 13 other Senators dump APC for PDP

Buhari wishes Kwankwaso, Melaye, others well

In his statement to the 15 senators that quit APC for the PDP, President Buhari said he wishes them all well.

The statement partly reads:

"I wish all of our party members who today defected, the very best in their future undertakings. The APC has done its best to stop the defections, and I must commend the party leadership for working tirelessly to unite the party and position it for future victory.

"I am confident that no harm or injury will be done by these defections, to the APC and its aspirations. I urge party faithful to not despair, but to instead see this as something that happens in seasons like this, on the eve of elections.

"As the saying goes, all politics is local. We understand that some of the Distinguished and Honourable lawmakers have issues in/with their home states, especially on zoning which bars some of them from seeking another term in their constituencies.

"Let me also note that none of the defecting federal lawmakers has any specific grievances against me or the government I lead; neither do I harbour any ill-feeling towards any of them. I fully respect their freedom to choose what party to associate with."

Here is a full list of decampee lawmakers

Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano Central ) are two of the most notable lawmakers that dumped the APC for the PDP on Tuesday.

Others are Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun Central), Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Banabas Gemade (Benue North East), Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara South), and Shitu Ubali (Jigawa North-East)

The others are Danbaba Ibrahim (Sokoto South), Usman Nafada (Gombe North), Nasif Nafada (Bauchi North), Isah Misau (Bauchi Central) and Suleman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North).

Senator Muritala Nyako (Adamawa Central) and Monsurat Sumonu (Oyo Central) defected from the APC to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the political party adopted by the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) launched by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.