Nigerian Senate President Godswill Akpabio Tuesday mocked the African Democratic Congress of former vice president Atiku Abubakar, saying the party was effectively dead following massive wave of defections by ADC lawmakers to the Nigerian Democratic Congress.
The defections were triggered by two former ADC chieftains, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso joing the NDC on Sunday, in a move that altered the political permutations in Nigeria, ahead of the 2027 elections.
Akpabio made the mockery while presiding over plenary, shortly after the Senate formally announced the defection of lawmakers, including Victor Umeh, who joined the NDC, citing internal crises and “unending litigation” within the ADC.
“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. Because I think ADC is dead,” Akpabio joked.
He continued in a lighter tone, questioning the frequency of political defections by lawmakers.
“How many times can you defect in a month? Once. But some have done three times,” he laughed.
The Senate President suggested a more coordinated system for handling defections, adding that lawmakers should “compile” their movement lists rather than announce them individually on the floor.
“So that it doesn’t look like a daily ritual. 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 added.
Akpabio also read a defection letter from Enyinnaya Abaribe, noting his movement across parties in recent years.
“Note that Senator Abaribe has moved from APGA to ADC, and now he has moved from ADC to Labour Party,” he said, before joking that future announcements would no longer be read individually.
cpcnews.org 