Abaribe risks losing Senate seat over defection to ADC

The Senate has warned that the Constitution provides that any lawmaker who defects from the political party that sponsored him to the National Assembly may lose his seat if the defection is not caused by a clear division within that party.

Following the development, the Senate has given Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe until the next legislative sitting to withdraw his letter of defection or risk losing his seat.

The issue arose shortly after Abaribe’s letter announcing his defection was read during plenary.

In the letter, the Abia South lawmaker said his decision was part of a collective effort aimed at rescuing and deepening Nigeria’s democratic system.

However, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, immediately raised a constitutional point of order, arguing that under the Constitution, a lawmaker can only retain his seat after defecting if the action is due to a division within the political party that sponsored him.

Barau insisted that there is no division within the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), thereby questioning the legality of Abaribe’s defection.

Supporting the position, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, urged the Senate to allow Abaribe withdraw his defection letter.

He added that if the senator fails to do so, the matter could be referred to the legal department of the National Assembly or external solicitors for interpretation and determination of the appropriate constitutional action.

Also contributing to the debate, Senator Adams Oshiomhole argued that APGA remains united, noting that the party recently won the Anambra State governorship election, an indication that it is neither weak nor divided.

Oshiomhole insisted that lawmakers should not claim internal crises in their political parties when none exists.

Responding to the concerns, Abaribe admitted that APGA is not divided but explained that he had been expelled from the party since September 2025.

He said that since the Constitution requires a senator to belong to a political party, he decided to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

However, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele argued that the alleged expulsion could itself raise another constitutional issue.

According to him, Section 68(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution requires that a senator must belong to a political party, suggesting that if Abaribe had indeed been expelled since September 2025, it could mean his seat had already become vacant.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said there was no evidence yet confirming the senator’s expulsion from APGA.

Meanwhile, Senator Victor Umeh expressed dissatisfaction with the debate, recalling that several lawmakers had defected in the past without similar objections.

He cited examples including Senator Pam Dachungyang, who moved from the Action Democratic Party (ADP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Senator Francis Ezenwa, who also defected from the Labour Party, despite no known division within their parties at the time.

However, Umeh was interrupted during his contribution by the Senate President.

In his ruling, Akpabio gave Abaribe until the next legislative week to either withdraw his letter of defection or present convincing constitutional grounds to justify the move.

There are also indications that if Abaribe successfully completes his defection, he could emerge as the new Minority Leader in the Senate.

This follows the emergence of the African Democratic Congress as the leading minority party in the Senate after nine lawmakers defected from their parties, including five from the Peoples Democratic Party, three from the Labour Party and one from APGA.

With the defections, the PDP, which currently holds the Senate Minority Leader position through Senator Abba Moro of Benue South, now has only seven senators, while APGA, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) each have one member.

The Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) currently have no representatives in the Senate.

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