Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe may risk losing his seat in the Senate following strong resistance from lawmakers over his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The Senate warned that the Constitution provides that a lawmaker who defects from the political party that sponsored him to the National Assembly may lose his seat if there is no clear division within the party.
Consequently, the Senate has given Abaribe until the next legislative sitting to withdraw his defection letter or risk losing his seat.
The issue arose shortly after Abaribe’s letter of defection was read on the floor of the Senate.
In the letter, the Abia South lawmaker stated that his decision was in line with a collective resolve to rescue and deepen Nigeria’s democratic system.
However, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, immediately raised a constitutional point of order, stating that under the Constitution, a lawmaker can only retain his seat after defecting if the action is caused by a division in the political party that sponsored him.
Barau maintained that there is no division within APGA, thereby questioning the legality of Abaribe’s defection.
Also speaking, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, supported Barau’s position and urged the Senate to give Abaribe the opportunity to withdraw his letter of defection.
He added that if the senator fails to do so, the Senate may refer the matter to the legal department of the National Assembly or external solicitors to determine the appropriate constitutional action.
Similarly, Senator Adams Oshiomhole argued that APGA remains united, pointing out that the party recently won the Anambra State governorship election, which demonstrates that it is neither weak nor divided.
Oshiomhole insisted that the relevant constitutional provisions should be invoked, warning that lawmakers should not claim crises in their parties when none exists.
Responding to the concerns, Senator Abaribe admitted that APGA is not divided, but explained that the party had expelled him as a member since September 2025.
He added that since the Constitution requires a senator to belong to a political party, he decided to defect to the ADC.
However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, argued that the alleged expulsion of Abaribe could itself raise another constitutional issue, noting that Section 68(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution requires that a senator must belong to a political party.
According to him, if Abaribe had indeed been expelled since September 2025, it could imply that his seat had already become vacant.
In his response, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said he did not yet have evidence confirming the senator’s expulsion.
Meanwhile, Senator Victor Umeh expressed dissatisfaction with the debate, recalling that several senators had defected in the past without similar objections.
He cited examples including Senator Pam Dachungyang, who defected from the Action Democratic Party, ADP to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Senator Francis Ezenwa, who also left the Labour Party, despite no reported division in their parties at the time.
However, Umeh was cut short by the President of the Senate during the debate.
In his ruling, Akpabio gave Abaribe until the next legislative week to either withdraw his letter of defection or present convincing constitutional grounds for his action.
There are strong indications that if Abaribe successfully completes his defection, he could potentially emerge as the new Minority Leader in the Senate.
This follows ADC’s emergence as the leading minority party in the Senate as nine lawmakers formally defect from their respective political parties including five from PDP, three from LP, and one from APGA. By this, PDP that holds the Senate Minority Leader’s position with Abba Moro from Benue South now has only seven senators, with APGA, NDC, and NNPP having one each while LP and SDP no longer have members in Senate
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
