A member of Sokoto State House of Assembly Alhaji Muhammad Bashir, who lost in the bid to secure the All Progressive Congress (APC) ticket for the House of Representatives, has dumped the party.

Bashir said on the floor of the assembly on Wednesday in Sokoto that he has now shifted loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bashir was beaten in the primary for Yabo/Shagari Federal Constituency by Alhaji Abubakar Yabo.

“I wish to formally announce my defection from the APC to PDP as provided by Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Reacting on the development, Alhaji Sani Yakubu (APC-Gudu), said the member had been hobnobbing with the PDP for long, adding, “so this defection has not come to us as a surprise.”

Yakubu disclosed that even after Bashir lost the ticket for the federal constituency, the APC still returned his state Assembly ticket for him to contest.

“We wish him well in his new political party, and want to assure APC members in his constituency that his departure will translate into huge success for our party,” he said.