Abaribe’s move triggered a constitutional debate on the floor of the Senate after Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, raised a point of order questioning the legality of the defection.
From Deborah Hassan
365Daily– A tense session unfolded in the Senate on Thursday after Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, threatened to declare the seat of Abia South Senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, vacant following his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The development came amid a wave of defections in the red chamber, with eight senators formally announcing their decision to dump their respective political parties to join the ADC.
Those who defected include Aminu Tambuwal, Lawal Adamu Usman, Mohammed Onawo, Augustine Akobundu, Abaribe, Victor Umeh, Tony Nwoye and Ireti Kingibe.
Tambuwal, Usman, Onawo and Akobundu were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Abaribe was elected under APGA, while Umeh, Nwoye and Kingibe were members of the Labour Party before their defection.
However, Abaribe’s move triggered a constitutional debate on the floor of the Senate after Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, raised a point of order questioning the legality of the defection.
Jibrin argued that APGA was not known to be experiencing any crisis or division that could justify Abaribe’s decision to switch parties. He noted that under Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), a senator who defects from the political party that sponsored his election must vacate his seat unless the defection is caused by a division within the party or a merger involving the party.
He therefore urged the Senate to investigate the circumstances surrounding Abaribe’s defection and invoke the constitutional provisions if it was established that the lawmaker acted in violation of the law.
The deputy senate president also suggested that Umeh, a former national chairman of APGA, should investigate the matter as a one-man committee to determine whether there was indeed any division within the party.
The issue generated heated exchanges among senators before Akpabio allowed Abaribe to respond to the allegations.
Defending his action, Abaribe insisted that he did not defect from APGA because he had already been expelled from the party since September 2025.
According to him, since he was no longer a member of the party that sponsored his election, the constitutional provision requiring a lawmaker to vacate his seat after defecting does not apply to him.
“I was sacked from APGA since September 2025. I have no party now, so the constitutional provision does not apply to me,” Abaribe told the chamber.
He maintained that having no political party effectively leaves him free to align with any political platform of his choice.
The led to disagreement among the lawmakers over the interpretation of the constitutional provisions guiding defections.
During the exchanges, Umeh criticised some former Labour Party senators who had earlier defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing them of citing internal divisions within the Labour Party to justify their exit but now attempting to block opposition lawmakers seeking to join the ADC.
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, however urged caution, noting that the Senate must carefully examine the constitutional provisions governing defection before taking any action.
Ruling on the matter, Akpabio said the Senate would review the arguments presented and the constitutional provisions cited before making a final determination.
He subsequently gave Abaribe until the next legislative sitting to reconsider his position or take a decision, warning that the Senate may be compelled to invoke the relevant provisions of the Constitution if it finds that the defection violates the law.