Abaribe, Umeh, Hanga defect from ADC, NNPP to Labour, NDC

Fresh defections rocked the Senate on Tuesday as Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Victor Umeh quit the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the Labour Party and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), respectively, while Senate Minority Whip Senator Rufai Hanga also dumped the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the NDC.

The defections were formally conveyed in separate letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read on the floor of the chamber.

In their letters, Abaribe and Umeh blamed their exit on lingering leadership crises and protracted litigation within the ADC, saying the instability had made the party an unreliable platform ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Hanga, in a separate move, switched from the NNPP to the NDC, further swelling the ranks of the relatively new party in the Red Chamber.

With the latest defections, the number of serving senators on the NDC platform has risen from one to three, including its founder, Senator Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa West), who earlier defected to the party on 31 March alongside nine other senators who moved to the ADC.

The latest round of defections has reshaped the party balance in the Senate, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) retaining a commanding 88 seats, followed by the ADC with eight, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with four, and the NDC with three, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord Party hold one seat each, bringing the number of occupied seats to 105.

Four seats remain vacant: Enugu North, Nasarawa North, Rivers South East and Ondo South, following the deaths of three senators and the appointment of one to a permanent seat at the United Nations.