At least nine senators, including Enyinnaya Abaribe, Tony Nwoye and Ireti Kingide, from multiple political parties officially joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC, on Thursday, further altering the composition of the senate.
The Street Journal earlier reported the defection of Aminu Tambuwal from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ADC. Tambuwal is among the nine senators who joined the ADC.
The senators who announced their defection include Abaribe (Abia South), Nwoye (Anambra North), Kingibe (Federal Capital Territory), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto South), Binos Yaroe (Adamawa South), Victor Umeh (Anambra Central), , Lawal Usman (Kaduna Central), Ogoshi Onawo (Nasarawa South) and Austin Akobundu (Abia Central).
The letters confirming their defection were formally read on the senate floor during Thursday’s plenary session by the senate president, Godswill Akpabio.
In his letter, Nwoye cited internal conflicts within the Labour Party as his reason for switching parties.
“I wish to tender my resignation amid the ongoing multiple litigations within the Labour Party, which have significantly affected the cohesion and stability of the party.
“Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and regards,” Nwoye’s defection read.
After the letters were read, Akpabio welcomed the senators to the ADC but rejected claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, influenced the defections.
He said, “deputy senate president and leader of the senate, I hope you noticed that I have read (defections) from three different political parties now. So, you cannot accuse the ruling party of tampering with its leadership. Here, we have APGA, Labour, SDP, and all of them.
“So, all of them have a problem. They’ve not been able to put their parties together. So, the APC cannot be blamed for this.
“They are all out to ensure that we have what you call a minority status in this chamber, and I am very proud of them.”
The recent defections highlight ongoing realignments in the 10th senate, where lawmakers have frequently switched parties amid internal disputes within opposition groups.
Following Thursday’s announcements, the APC maintains a strong majority with 87 senators, while the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has dropped to seven members.
The ADC, strengthened by the defections, now has seven senators.
Other minority parties include the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, and the National Democratic Congress, NDC, each with one senator, bringing the total membership of the Senate to 106.
The Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party currently have no representation in the upper chamber after the latest defections.
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