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By Lawrence Agbo
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has tightened its grip on the Senate after pushing its membership to 88 lawmakers, following the inauguration of four new senators last Tuesday.
The development has further widened the gap between the ruling party and opposition parties in the 10th National Assembly.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, administered the oath of office on the new lawmakers on June 24.
The four are Ikeje Asogwa, Enugu North; Dayo Faduyile, Ondo South; Danladi Envulu-Anza, Nasarawa North; and Olaka Nwogu of the PDP, representing Rivers South-East.
With the new additions, APC’s number in the Red Chamber jumped from 85 to 88. The party won three of the four seats contested in the June by-elections in Ondo, Enugu and Nasarawa states.
The PDP, which started the 10th Senate in June 2023 with 36 senators, has now been reduced to just five. The Labour Party dropped from eight to one, while the NNPP lost its two seats. The SDP has no senator, and APGA retained its lone seat.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, which had no senator at inauguration, now boasts nine members. The Accord Party and the National Democratic Congress, NDC, have one each.
Ironically, the APC’s numerical strength grew despite a fresh wave of defections triggered by grievances over the party’s primaries ahead of 2027.
Among those who dumped the party was former IGP, Abubakar Adamu, after losing the Nasarawa governorship primary.
Also gone are Senators Shehu Buba, Bauchi South, and Sama’ila Dahuwa, Bauchi North, who defected to the PRP and NDC respectively after failing to secure return tickets.
On June 23, Senator Garba Maidoki, Kebbi South, also quit the APC for the ADC after being screened out of the senatorial primary. Maidoki had defected to the APC in May 2025 from the PDP alongside Senators Adamu Aliero and Yahaya Abdullahi.
The defectors accused the APC leadership of imposition, injustice and a lack of internal democracy.
With the swearing-in, all 109 seats in the Senate are now occupied.
Asogwa won Enugu North with 162,360 votes following the death of Senator Okey Ezea. Faduyile took Ondo South with 68,474 votes after Senator Jimoh Ibrahim’s appointment as Nigeria’s UN Permanent Representative. Envulu-Anza secured Nasarawa North with 45,362 votes after the death of Senator Godiya Akwashiki. Nwogu won Rivers South-East with 47,961 votes to replace the late Senator Barry Mpigi.
From 59 seats in 2023, the APC has now surged to 88, consolidating its position as the dominant force in the Senate ahead of 2027.
