Ahead of the general election in 2027, Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), claims to have switched from the Labour Party (LP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Kingibe told reporters in Abuja that her decision to leave was intentional and would be celebrated with “fanfare.”
“I am fully and utterly dedicated to ADC,” she declared.
“But obviously, as the senator representing the federal capital territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go and collect card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”
When asked if she was satisfied with the leadership of ADC and the coalition she’s joining, the senator said the party is still evolving.
“It’s something that is evolving. So you cannot say while your child is still crawling that you are not happy with how he’s going to run. You wait. We are growing,” she said.
Kingibe addressed worries that her defection may lose her the senate seat under constitutional rules by stating that the Labour Party is presently divided into two groups, which, she said, gives her the legal right to relocate.
“I ask you to please read the constitution. There are two factions clear of Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty,” she said.
“So you say I should stay in Labour Party. Which faction of the Labour Party do you want me to stay in?
“There are two clear distinct ones. Even INEC got two sets of results and candidates, though they didn’t accept any. There’s no question of that.
“Even the time when we didn’t have two clear factions, did you see anybody implementing it?
“But I do follow the law. And if there were not two distinct factions of Labour Party, I would not presume to decamp, because that is unconstitutional. But they are.
“And this is the definition that the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go to. I just chose ADC.”
Kingibe was among a number of well-known Nigerian politicians who attended the July 2 presentation of ADC as the opposition coalition’s platform in Abuja.
