Fawaz Adebisi
The Senate on Thursday announced plans to review the legality of the defection of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South, from the All Progressives Grand Alliance to the African Democratic Congress.
Abaribe was among a group of lawmakers who formally defected to the ADC during plenary, a move that immediately sparked constitutional concerns among some senators.
Raising the issue, the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, cited Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which stipulates that any lawmaker who defects from the political party that sponsored his election must vacate his seat unless the defection is triggered by a division or merger within the party.
Jibrin argued that there was no evidence of a crisis within APGA that would justify Abaribe’s decision to switch parties.
“I discovered that there isn’t any division in APGA and there isn’t any in the Labour Party,” he said during the debate on the floor of the Senate.
Also contributing, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) maintained that both APGA and the Labour Party currently have stable leadership structures, insisting that no internal crisis exists to warrant a defection.
“I know for a fact that APGA has one chairman and a national executive council that is not in court,” Oshiomhole said.
“There are no issues of division or crisis within the party.”
The former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress added that although there were pending appeals regarding the leadership of the Labour Party, subsisting court judgments had already affirmed the party’s leadership.
Oshiomhole warned against what he described as a growing trend of lawmakers defecting without constitutional justification and urged the Senate to uphold the provisions of the law.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, described the matter as critical to Nigeria’s democratic stability and constitutional order.
Bamidele suggested that Abaribe should be allowed to reconsider his defection letter before the issue is formally referred to the National Assembly’s legal department for further examination.
“If he insists, we may have no choice but to invoke the relevant provisions of the Constitution,” Bamidele said.
Responding, Senate President Godswill Akpabio noted that the Constitution empowers the presiding officer of the Senate to act on such matters without necessarily seeking judicial intervention, adding that any decision taken would strictly align with constitutional provisions.
However, Abaribe defended his decision, insisting that his move to the ADC was lawful because he had earlier been expelled from APGA.
“I have been sacked from my party since September 2025, and I have the letter here,” the senator told his colleagues.
“This section does not cover a situation where someone has been removed from their party.”
He further argued that the Constitution requires lawmakers to belong to a political party to retain their seats, maintaining that his defection was necessary after his alleged expulsion from APGA.
The Senate is expected to further deliberate on the matter after a review of the constitutional implications surrounding the defection.
'
'Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity for a product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 Email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We are committed to impactful investigative journalism for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell more stories. Kindly donate any amount HERE
