Defection: Senate Threatens To Declare Abaribe’s Seat Vacant

By Suleiman Anyalewechi 

The Senate on Thursday March 12 , 2026, threatened to declare Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe’s seat vacant over his defection from the All Progressive Grand Alliance APGA to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, without any legal grounds.

The Source reports that about nine Senators across three parties, including Abaribe, had during plenary on Thursday, submitted their various letters of resignation from their original political platforms, and their subsequent defection to the opposition Coalition ADC.

However, while eight of the defecting Senators cited festering leadership and internal crises within their original political parties as a major reason for their action, Senator Abaribe was said to be silent on why he was leaving APGA.

Some leaders of the red chamber of the National Assembly, including the Deputy Senate President , Jibrin Barau, Senate leader Okpeyemi Bamidele, as well as scores of Senators questioned Abaribe’s planned defection on the grounds that there are  no known crises bedeviling the APGA to warrant his defection.

Citing Section 68 (1) (g) of the Nigerian Constitution, Senator Jibrin noted that  it is illegal and unconstitutional for any member of the National Assembly to defect from the party that sponsored his election, unless there are manifest evidence of division within the said party.

Further citing Order 20 ( j) of the Senate Standing Rules, the Deputy Senate President noted that the Senate is empowered to interpret and consequently issue final decisions on matters relating to the appropriateness and or otherwise of defection of National Assembly members.

The Senate leader on his part, expressed the fears that Senator Abaribe, going by his decision to defect without any  legally and justifiable  reasons,  have violated the provisions of Section 65 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,which stipulates that a member of the National Assembly must belong to a political party as a necessary pre-condition for holding office.

Consequently, Senator Bamidele pleaded with the Senate President to allow Senator Abaribe to withdraw his purported resignation letter from APGA, insisting that anything contrary would leave the leadership of the Senate with no other option than to declare his seat vacant.

However, Abaribe who represents the Abia South Senatorial District at the National Assembly , informed that he was forced to resign  because the leadership of APGA had earlier expelled him from the Party.

He urged the Senate to accept his letter of resignation, as he had long seized to be a member of APGA ,by virtue of his suspension, and later expulsion.

In his ruling, the Senate President,asked Senator Abaribe one of the longest serving Senators in the Country, to avail the Senate a copy of the said expulsion letter within the next one week to enable it take a stand.

While the Deputy Senate President and the Majority Leader push for an immediate sanctioning of Abaribe, the Senate President pleaded that he be given  some time to reconsider his defection .

“We will give you until our next sitting to reconsider ,or the chamber will take a position”, Godswill Akpabio stated.