NINE senators in Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly on Thursday dumped their political parties and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Their letters of defection were read during plenary by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The lawmakers include Ireti Kingibe who represents the Federal Capital Territory. She left the Labour Party for ADC. Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo of Nasarawa South quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Similarly, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto South), Binos Dauda Yaroe (Adamawa South), Austin Akobundu (Abia Central), and Lawal Adamu Usman (Kaduna Central) left the PDP.
Others are Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) and Tony Nwoye (Anambra North) from the Labour Party.
In his defection letter, Nwoye wrote, “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.”
After reading all the letters, Akpabio welcomed the senators to their new political home while dismissing claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was behind 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 defection reshapes the composition of the Senate, increases the number of lawmakers under ADC and alters the balance of power among parties in the chamber.
The APC currently has 84 of 109 members of the Senate.
The ruling party also own 31 of the 36 governors in the country, as the nation prepares for 2027 general elections which hold between January and February
