Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has officially defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Kingibe described her decision as both strategic and deliberate, affirming her full commitment to her new party.
“I’m totally and completely committed to ADC,” she said.
“But obviously, as the senator representing the FCT, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go and collect a card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”
The senator emphasized that her formal unveiling in the ADC would be accompanied by significant public fanfare.
On her confidence in the ADC’s leadership and the broader opposition coalition it is building, Kingibe said the process is still unfolding.
“It’s something that is evolving. So you cannot say while your child is still crawling that you are not happy with how he’s going to run. You wait. We are growing.”
Addressing questions about the legality of her defection and whether it might cost her seat in the Senate, Kingibe argued that her move is constitutional, citing the ongoing factional crisis within the Labour Party.
“I ask you to please read the constitution. There are two factions clear of Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty,” she stated.
“So you say I should stay in Labour Party. Which faction of Labour Party do you want me to stay in?”
Kingibe noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had at one point received two sets of results and candidates from the Labour Party, underscoring the depth of the party’s internal division.
“Even the time when we didn’t have two clear factions, did you see anybody implementing it? But I do follow the law,” she said.
“If there were not two distinct factions of Labour Party, I would not presume to decamp, because that is unconstitutional. But they are. And this is the definition that the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go to. I just chose ADC.”
Kingibe’s defection is a significant boost to the ADC and the broader opposition coalition as it gathers momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections.
