The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday declared that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) appears to have collapsed, following a wave of defections by its members to other political parties.
Akpabio made the remark while presiding over plenary at the Senate, shortly after lawmakers formally announced their defection from the ADC to parties such as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Labour Party (LP).
Reacting to the growing trend, the Senate President expressed frustration over the frequency of such announcements, suggesting that defecting lawmakers should streamline the process.
“Resignation from ADC and declaration for Labour Party. Maybe all those defecting from ADC should just compile everything in one paper and bring, so that we don’t keep announcing, announcing, announcing,” Akpabio said.
He added bluntly, “Because I think ADC is dead.”
Akpabio also mocked the increasing rate at which some lawmakers switch political parties, questioning the consistency of such moves.
“How many times can you defect in a month? Once. But some have done three times,” he remarked.
The Senate President further advised that lawmakers intending to defect should submit their names collectively based on their destination parties to avoid what he described as a “daily ritual” of announcements on the Senate floor.
“If you are defecting from Labour, you write all of you. If you are moving from ADC, you write all of you. If you are entering NDC, you write all of you,” he said.
In a lighthearted moment, Akpabio referenced the case of Enyinnaya Abaribe, noting his multiple party switches.
“Note that Senator Abaribe has moved from APGA to ADC, and now he has moved from ADC to Labour Party,” he joked.
The development comes amid a broader wave of defections in the National Assembly. Earlier on Tuesday, the House of Representatives recorded the defection of no fewer than 17 lawmakers from the ADC to the NDC.
The lawmakers, drawn from Kano, Anambra, Lagos, Edo, and Rivers states, cited persistent internal crises within the ADC as the primary reason for their exit.
In separate letters read during plenary, the defectors pointed to “unresolved crises from the national to ward levels” as justification for abandoning the party.
VANGUARD