{"id":13349,"date":"2026-05-05T16:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=13349"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:35:35","slug":"fresh-defections-in-senate-as-umeh-abaribe-hanga-switch-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/fresh-defections-in-senate-as-umeh-abaribe-hanga-switch-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh defections in Senate as Umeh, Abaribe, Hanga switch parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n

As 2027 election draws close and the avowed determination of the ruling APC leadership to to fraustrate efforts by the opposition political parties to enter into contest with them,three senators drawn from different opposition parties on Tuesday at Senate plenary defected to Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC),citing lingering leadership crises and internal disputes in their former parties.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Senators Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) and Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) resigned from the African Democratic Congress, ADC. Umeh joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), while Abaribe moved to the Labour Party, LP. <\/p>\n

Senator Rufai Hanga (Kano Central)is also defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP,) to the NDC.<\/p>\n

The defections were formally announced through letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read on the floor during the plenary.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Umeh said the decision followed extensive consultations with his family, constituents, and political allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write to inform you of my decision to defect from the African Democratic Congress to the Nigeria Democratic Congress,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He blamed unresolved internal divisions and endless litigation for his exit, saying \u201cI have taken this decision after wide consultations with my family, my constituents, and supporters in view of the lingering divisions in the leadership and unending litigations in the African Democratic Congress.”<\/p>\n

Reaffirming his commitment to national development under his new platform, Umeh said: \u201cI remain committed to making my contributions towards the development of our dear nation, but this time through the NDC.”<\/p>\n

Abaribe also announced his immediate resignation from the ADC, explaining that his decision to resign his membership of the ADC is effective immediately and have, accordingly, joined the Labour Party.<\/p>\n

He attributed his defection to the party\u2019s deepening crisis, saying \u201cMy decision is anchored on the now well\u2011known leadership crisis within the ADC, occasioned by multiple legal issues besetting the party.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the wave of defections, Akpabio joked about the growing trend of party switches in the chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cClerk, note that he has moved\u2026 and now he has moved from ADC to Labour Party. If he brings another letter, I won\u2019t announce it again,\u201d he said, drawing laughter from senators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By George Mgbeleke As 2027 election draws close and the avowed determination of the ruling APC leadership to to fraustrate efforts by the opposition political parties to enter into contest with them,three senators drawn from different opposition parties on Tuesday at Senate plenary defected to Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC),citing lingering leadership crises and internal disputes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13351,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13349\/revisions\/13351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}