Following a new wave of lawmakers defecting to rival parties, Senate President Godswill Akpabio quipped on Tuesday that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was practically dead.
Following the Senate’s announcement of multiple defections, including Victor Umeh, who joined the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) due to internal conflicts and ongoing legal disputes inside the ADC, Akpabio made a statement in plenary.
He said, “Resignation from ADC and declaration for Labour Party. Maybe all those defecting from ADC should just compile everything in one paper and bring it, so that we don’t keep announcing, announcing, announcing. Because I think ADC is dead.”
He continued in a lighter tone, questioning the frequency of political defections.
“How many times can you defect in a month? Once. But some have done three times,” he said.
The Senate President suggested a more coordinated approach to handling defections, urging lawmakers to submit their movements collectively rather than individually.
“So that it doesn’t look like a daily ritual. If you are defecting from Labour, you write all of you. If you are moving from ADC, you write all of you. If you are entering NDC, you write all of you,” he added.
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During the session, Akpabio also read a defection letter from Enyinnaya Abaribe, noting his movement across parties in recent years.
“Note that Senator Abaribe has moved from APGA to ADC, and now he has moved from ADC to Labour Party,” he said, joking that such announcements might no longer be read individually going forward.
The development comes amid a broader political realignment in the National Assembly, with at least 17 members of the House of Representatives also defecting from the ADC to the NDC.
In his resignation letter, Umeh cited “lingering divisions in the leadership and unending litigation” within the ADC as reasons for his exit.
“I remain committed to making my contributions towards the development of our dear nation, but this time through the NDC,” he wrote.
