Politics: Godswill Akpabio Threatens To Declare Enyinnaya Abaribe’s Senate Seat Vacant Over Defection
Drama as Senate President, Godswill Akpabio threatens to declare the seat of Abia South Senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, vacant following his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
While others that defected cited internal divisions in their former parties, Abaribe’s letter did not indicate any crisis within APGA, causing a debate on its legality.
Apparently seizing on that omission, the Senate leadership raised questions over the legality of the Abia South senator’s defection and whether the constitutional provision requiring lawmakers to vacate their seats should be invoked against him.
Acting on the directive of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, rose under Order 20 of the Senate Standing Rules to challenge Abaribe’s defection. Jibrin told the chamber that while he had reviewed the letters of defection read by Akpabio, Abaribe’s case stood out because APGA was not known to be facing any division or crisis at the national level.
Mr President, as directed by you, I have gone through the letters forwarded to you and read by you on the defections of the senators into the ADC. He said.
I strongly observed that one of the parties — APGA — from which Senator Abaribe defected is not engulfed by any crisis or division, particularly at the national level
Abaribe’s defection, as clearly stated in Section 68(1)(b) and (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, is against the provisions of the law and warrants you to do the needful as far as the Abia South senatorial seat is concerned.
Jibrin noted that the Constitution provides that a member of the National Assembly shall vacate his seat if he defects from the political party that sponsored his election, except where such defection is caused by a division in the party or a merger involving the party.
Following the observation, Akpabio invited Abaribe to respond to the issues raised against his defection.
In his defence, Abaribe admitted that APGA was not divided but explained that the party had expelled him since September 2025.
According to him, his expulsion meant he no longer belonged to the party that sponsored his election, leaving him without a political platform until his decision to align with the ADC.
However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, argued that Abaribe’s explanation could further complicate the matter. He maintained that if the senator was truly expelled from APGA as he claimed, that circumstance could itself trigger the constitutional provision requiring him to vacate his seat under Section 68(1)(b).
Apparently weighing the arguments, Akpabio ruled that the Senate would study the constitutional implications of the matter before taking a final decision.
He subsequently gave Abaribe one week to either withdraw his letter of defection or present more convincing reasons to justify his action.
