Nigeria: Defections and political turmoil makes ruling party falter

Recently defections cost Nigeria's ruling party, the  APC (All Progressives Congress) its senate majority. More than a dozen senators walked out on the ruling party and joined the main opposition coalition, which has the PDP (People's Democratic Party) as the main standard-bearer.

This party led Nigeria's politics for a long time, since it won every Presidential election between 1999 and 2011.

With this political turmoil,  the realignment comes just weeks after an APC faction, made up of former PDP members who moved to the winning party in 2015 -- including Senate President Bukola Saraki (perhaps seeking the leadership of the opposition coalition) and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara -- announced they would join a broad opposition coalition led by the PDP.

President Buhari told the National Assembly these episodes would not affect the party negatively, however the mass defections which are  taking place in the run-up to elections in February 2019 mark a major blow to Buhari's bid for a second four-year term.