Yesterday, the Senate had a very exciting session when nine senators said they were leaving different political parties to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe’s action sparked a constitutional controversy in the Senate.
The defecting lawmakers and their former political parties are Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (PDP – Sokoto South), Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA – Abia South), Binos Dauda Yaroe (PDP – Adamawa South), Victor Umeh (LP – Anambra Central), Tony Nwoye (LP – Anambra North), Lawal Adamu Usman (PDP – Kaduna Central), Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (PDP – Nasarawa South), Augustine Akobundu (PDP – Abia Central), and Ireti Kingibe (LP – FCT).
The Nation says that Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the letters of defection at a plenary session after the Senate changed its procedures to permit the documents be submitted late.
In his letter announcing his departure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tambuwal highlighted the party’s ongoing problems.
He said, “The ongoing internal crisis, disagreements over leadership, lawsuits, and divisions within the party at different levels have made it harder for me to stay involved and committed as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.” Sadly, the constant fights have made the party less united and cohesive than it used to be.
Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe, who also left the PDP, said he made the decision to protect Nigeria’s democratic system.
Senator Yaroe said, “I decided to join the African Democratic Congress because I want to work with other patriotic Nigerians to show the world that Nigeria is still a multi-party democracy and that our country can’t become a one-party system.”
Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory, said she left the Labour Party because of problems that weren’t being tackled within the party.
She said, “This decision has become necessary because of the long-lasting and seemingly irreconcilable divisions and leadership crisis within the Labour Party.”
Other lawmakers who said they were joining the ADC also said they were doing so because of ongoing leadership problems and disagreements inside their parties.
But Abaribe’s switch from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the ADC caused a lot of debate in the senate about what his actions meant for the constitution.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio said that the Senate would carefully look over the letters to see if they satisfied the provisions of the Constitution.
“You can see that I’ve read letters from three different political parties,” Akpabio stated. You can’t say that the ruling party is messing with its leaders because there are three parties: the APGA, the Labour Party, and the PDP. It looks like they all have problems inside.
Akpabio also told people to look closely at the letters to see whether any of the defections broke any laws.
“You might want to look at the letters to see if any of them don’t show any division within their political party.” “I think they should lose their seats,” Akpabio stated, “in line with the Constitution.”
Specifically, as directed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, his Deputy, Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano North), stood under Order 20 of the Senate’s standing Orders to question Abaribe’s defection from APGA, which, according to him, has no division or crisis at the National level.
“Mr. President, as you asked, I have read the letters you sent me about the nine Senators who left some minority parties to join the ADC. However, I strongly believe that one of the parties (APGA) that Abaribe left is not in crisis or divided, especially at the National level.
He remarked, “Abaribe’s defection, as clearly stated in section 68 (1b and g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is clearly against the law and requires you to do what needs to be done about the Abia South Senatorial seat.”
Barau read the provision and said, “The section says that a member of the Senate or House of Representatives must leave his seat in the House of which he is a member if he becomes a member of another legislative house.”
(b) Any other circumstances emerge that would exclude him from being elected as a member if he were not a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives;
(g) If he or she leaves the political party that helped him or her run for office without the party having any splits.”
Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State and senator from Edo North, brought up a constitutional point of order. He said that the Constitution only lets lawmakers leave their party without losing their seats if there is a split within the party that sponsored their election.
Oshiomhole remarked, “Those who are leaving the PDP may have a reason, since we know there are factions in the party.” There is no divide in the Labour Party or the APGA, though. This is extremely obvious in the Constitution.
Abaribe said he was fired from APGA in September 2025 in response to the issues presented. He said that the Constitution does not expressly say what happens when a lawmaker is dismissed from his party.
Abaribe said, “I’m not a lawyer.” This section (68) doesn’t cover the case if someone gets kicked out of their party in any way. “I got fired from my party in September 2025, and I have the letter here.”
Akpabio, on the other hand, maintained that the Senate had not received any formal papers corroborating the assertion.
The President of the Senate addressed the senator from Abia South, “You have confirmed that you are not leaving because of a division, but because of a supposed sack.” The Senate doesn’t know that yet. “We don’t have proof of that here.”
He then told Abaribe that he had a week to show proof of his purported expulsion from APGA.
Akpabio said, “Let’s give Senator Abaribe a week to show proof that he was fired.”
Afterward, Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, noted that the situation brought up major constitutional questions about who can and can’t be a lawmaker.
Bamidele claimed that the supposed firing of Abaribe from APGA in September of last year is even enough to make his seat vacant, as stated in section 68 (1b) of the 1999 Constitution.
He said that the Constitution makes it quite clear when a member of the National Assembly can leave without losing his position.
“Section 65 of the Constitution sets the requirements for being elected to the Senate, while Section 68 sets the conditions under which a member must leave his seat. Bamidele said, “These rules must guide any choice we make.”
After Abaribe gives proof that he was kicked out of APGA, the Senate leadership decided to talk about the subject again at a later meeting.
In the meantime, our reporter learned that the ADC may become the primary minority opposition group in the Senate, a position that the PDP has held till now.
This happened when the PDP lost a lot of members because they were leaving to join other parties, saying that there was an unresolvable problem in the party.
It was also learned that Abaribe has been chosen to be the new head of the Senate’s minority party. Abaribe was also the leader of the minority party in the 9th Senate.
The Senate has seen a lot of defections, which has brought the number of APC Senators up to 87 (including those who haven’t switched parties yet), the number of PDP Senators down to seven, and ADC has become the main opposition party in the Senate with nine members. APGA, NNPP, and NDC each have one member.
There are now 106 Senators in the 10th Senate. There are three empty seats: Nasarawa North, Enugu North, and Rivers South East. These seats are empty since the senators who used to hold them died.
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