Nigeria's 'controversial' senator quits ruling party

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria's controversial parliamentarian Dino Melaye said on Wednesday he was quitting the ruling All Progressives Congress, signaling a rough road ahead for the party in the run up to next year's general elections.

Melaye, a senator from north central Kogi state, announced at a plenary that he would be joining the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and asked the parliament to “place a seat” for him on the other side of the aisle.

Under the Nigerian law, the senator is still required to officially announce his defection in writing to the parliament. His defection may see him lose his seat -- unless he convinces the parliament that his party is officially in crisis and split into factions known to the law.

The senator has had a running battle with the Nigerian government which is prosecuting him for criminal conspiracy charges of alleged gun-running and sponsoring thugs to cause public unrest.

Melaye was recently arrested and arraigned in a court after he repeatedly shunned police invitations. He later escaped police custody, jumping out of a police van and sustaining injuries that landed him in hospital. He was later re-arrested.

The senator, officially estranged from the ruling party, has become a fierce critic of the Muhammadu Buhari administration which he insisted has not fulfilled its campaign promises. Many lawmakers, including leadership of the parliament, are believed to be nursing defection from the party following some internal crisis.