MASS DEFECTIONS HIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

March 12, 2026 • Dons Eze • 2 min read

A total of nine senators on Thursday, announced their decision to dump their political parties for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The decision of the lawmakers was announced during plenary on Thursday.

A breakdown of the defecting senators shows that five of them dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), three left the Labour Party (LP), and one resigned from the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

The defectors from PDP are Senators Dauda Yaroe, Lawal Usman, Ogochi Onawe, Aminu Tambuwal and Austin Akubondu.

The LP defectors are Senators Ireti Kingibe, Victor Umeh and Tony Nwoye.

Eight of the senators who dumped the PDP and LP cited leadership crises in their parties for their defection.

However, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said he dumped APGA because the party sacked him in September 2025.

The Senate has, however, given Senator Abaribe one week to reconsider his defection because his explanation that he dumped APGA because he was sacked by the party is not justified, as it is not covered by the constitution.

Also, a wave of defections swept through the House of Representatives of Nigeria on Thursday as 12 lawmakers formally announced their exit from their respective political parties.

The defections were disclosed by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, during plenary.

According to him, six lawmakers defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), while another six left the Young Progressives Party and the Labour Party to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

While announcing the development, Kalu explained that several lawmakers had submitted letters notifying the House of their political realignment.

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.