The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday stirred controversy in the National Assembly after declaring the African Democratic Congress effectively “dead,” following a wave of defections by its members to other political platforms.
Akpabio made the remark during plenary shortly after the Senate announced the defection of several lawmakers, including Victor Umeh, who dumped the ADC for the Nigerian Democratic Congress, citing internal crises and prolonged litigation within the party.
Reacting to the development, the Senate President, in a jocular tone, said, “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.”
His comment drew mixed reactions from lawmakers in the chamber as he further questioned the increasing frequency of defections.
“How many times can you defect in a month? Once. But some have done three times,” he added.
Akpabio suggested that defecting lawmakers should adopt a more coordinated approach by submitting joint notifications, rather than making individual announcements on the floor, to avoid what he described as a “daily ritual.”
During the session, he also read a defection letter from Enyinnaya Abaribe, highlighting his movement across multiple parties in recent years, including from the All Progressives Grand Alliance to ADC, and now to the Labour Party.
The development comes amid a fresh round of political realignments in the National Assembly, with no fewer than 16 members of the House of Representatives recently dumping the ADC for the NDC, while others joined the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party.
Some of the defecting lawmakers in the Green Chamber include Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, and Lilian Orogbu, among others.
In his resignation letter, Umeh attributed his decision to “lingering divisions in the leadership and unending litigation” within the ADC, which he said had made his continued membership untenable.
“I remain committed to making my contributions towards the development of our dear nation, but this time through the NDC,” he stated.
The spate of defections underscores growing instability within opposition parties and signals an early phase of political reshuffling ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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