The last remaining Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member in the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Randa, has defected to the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC). Mr Randa, who represents Tureta Constituency, confirmed the move in a letter read during the assembly's plenary on Tuesday by Speaker Tukur Bala. He cited a prolonged leadership crisis within the PDP as the reason for his departure. "The lingering disputes have weakened the party's capacity to function as a credible opposition. I took this decision after careful consideration, as the situation has made the platform no longer viable," he said.
His defection follows a wave of exits from the PDP in Sokoto. On April 7, seven PDP lawmakers — Abubakar Magaji, Habibu Modachi, Buhari Haliru, Bashar Jabo, Nasiru Adamu, Awaisu Aliyu and Atiku Liman — joined the ADC. Muhammad Mas'ud, representing Shagari Constituency, moved to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). With Mr Randa's exit, the PDP now holds no seats in the Sokoto Assembly. The chamber currently consists of 22 APC members and eight ADC lawmakers.
Abdullahi Randa's defection is not just a personal political shift — it marks the complete erasure of the PDP from Sokoto's legislative landscape, a dramatic fall for a party once dominant in the state. His specific mention of "lingering disputes" points to internal rot that has been festering in the PDP for months, now culminating in total legislative irrelevance. This isn't merely about party hopping; it's about a collapse of organisational structure and morale.
The timing and scale of the exodus, especially the April 7 defections of seven lawmakers to the ADC, suggest a coordinated realignment rather than isolated decisions. That the ADC, not the APC, absorbed most of the defectors indicates a strategic calculation — perhaps positioning the party as a viable alternative in northern politics, not just a satellite. The PDP's implosion benefits both the APC and emerging opposition formations, exposing how weak party loyalty has become when internal governance fails.
Ordinary voters in Tureta and other affected constituencies are left with representatives who have changed party affiliations without electoral mandates. This undermines democratic accountability, especially in a region where access to political power often translates to control over development resources. Constituents may now face uncertainty over whether their lawmakers' priorities align with local needs or party survival.
This is part of a broader trend across Nigeria where state-level party structures are crumbling under infighting, paving the way for mass defections and realignments ahead of future elections. Sokoto's case exemplifies how quickly a party can vanish from power when internal democracy is neglected.
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