The sole member of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Askira-Uba\/Hawul Federal Constituency in Borno State, Usman Midala Balami,<\/strong> has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC<\/strong>).<\/p>\n Balami\u2019s defection came as a surprise to many of his supporters after he was seen at an APC stakeholders\u2019 meeting held on Sunday at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Government House, Maiduguri.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement\n<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a resignation letter dated January 24, 2026, addressed to the PDP chairman of Bwalahizhi Ward in Hawul Local Government Area, and copied to the party\u2019s local and state leadership, the lawmaker formally announced his decision to leave the PDP.<\/p>\n He said the decision followed extensive consultations with political leaders across party lines, as well as discussions with his family and close associates.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter wide consultations with leaders across political parties, as well as friends, family, and loved ones, I have found it necessary to tender my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party with immediate effect,\u201d<\/em> Balami stated.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Balami attributed his defection to what he described as persistent internal crises and factional divisions within the PDP.<\/p>\n According to him, the situation has continued to weaken the party and hinder its effectiveness.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deepening crisis and persistent factional divisions within the party have continued to undermine its unity and effectiveness,<\/em>\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement\n<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Despite his decision to quit the opposition party, Balami expressed appreciation to the PDP for the opportunity to serve on its platform.<\/p>\n He noted that his time in the party contributed significantly to his political growth and commitment to public service.<\/p>\n The defection adds to the growing list of lawmakers switching allegiance ahead of the 2026 political season and further strengthens the APC\u2019s presence in Borno State.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement\n<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sole member of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Askira-Uba\/Hawul Federal Constituency in Borno State, Usman Midala Balami, has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Balami\u2019s defection came as a surprise to many of his supporters after he was seen at an APC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":240287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[287,800,251],"class_list":["post-240286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-apc","tag-borno-state","tag-pdp"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Usman-Balami-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}