Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Udeme Otong, on Tuesday announced that 24 out of the 26 lawmakers in the Assembly have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

During plenary, Otong disclosed that he had received resignation letters from 24 members who were formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The lawmakers cited internal crises within the PDP’s National Working Committee as the reason for their defection.

The Speaker did not clarify the status of the remaining two lawmakers or confirm whether he was among the defectors.

Otong further announced that the House Leader, Hon. Sunday Johnny of ONNA State Constituency, now part of the minority PDP, has stepped down from his position. In his place, the Chief Whip, Effiong Johnson of Mbo State Constituency, has been appointed as Acting Leader of the House pending the selection of a substantive Majority Leader.

Assembly sources revealed that Uduak Ekpo-Ufot, representing Etinan State Constituency, and Hon. Johnny have not joined the mass defection.

Both are believed to remain loyal to former Governor Udom Emmanuel, who has yet to react to the wave of defections—most notably that of his successor, Governor Umo Eno.

Governor Eno, along with members of the state executive council, federal and state lawmakers, local government chairmen, councillors, and political aides, recently dumped the PDP for the APC.

Speaking during a reception for new APC membe9rs on Saturday, Governor Eno said the move was aimed at strategically aligning Akwa Ibom State with the federal government under President Bola Tinubu.