₦airaland Forum

“ADC is dead”

-Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio says pic.twitter.com/cbAXLqhD3F

— NDC War Room (@NDCWarRoom) May 5, 2026

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday joked that the African Democratic Congress was effectively dead following a fresh wave of defections that saw lawmakers move en masse to other political parties, including the Nigerian Democratic Congress and the Labour Party.

Akpabio made the remark 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 said, drawing reactions in the chamber.

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.

During the sitting, 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.

The comments come amid a fresh political realignment in the National Assembly, where no fewer than 17 members of the House of Representatives have also defected from the ADC to the NDC.

The defections, announced on the floor of the Green Chamber, include lawmakers such as Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, and others.

Umeh, in his resignation letter at the Senate, cited “lingering divisions in the leadership and unending litigation” in the ADC, saying the situation made continued membership untenable.

“I remain committed to making my contributions towards the development of our dear nation, but this time through the NDC,” he wrote.

https://punchng.com/adc-is-dead-akpabio-reacts-to-wave-of-defections-in-national-assembly/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRmwQxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwa1ozSmZVaDdPVThPQ3ZJc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpUhXCvPga4E7-ly_yMsluh2rM2o7P-lFexqW7MFB-UAwEECkDq_-xgyYmUq_aem_qIiIsOa1CDiMa4NislR0SA)

Peter Obi has been nicknamed the political godfather of Nigerian politics

Anywhere he goes, millions of Nigerians go with him without collecting shishi

Peter Obi, I tap from your grace walahi

You're too much sir..

I tap from Peter Obi grace ..

He no dey bribe to get followers like tinubu, His followers too loyal..

I see why the NDC chairman named Peter Obi the principality of Nigerian politics .

I tap from Obi grace

Atiku and his camp overrated themselves

Atiku you see your life

Tenses:
Atiku you see your life

Atiku is nothing without Peter Obi and never will be.

NDC is the way to go..

Service to the people, Nigeria will be OK

LagosOrigin:
Atiku is nothing without Peter Obi and never will be.

I know Tinubu won't hand over to Atiku, so I wonder why he can't try to fix his children to achieve his dream. His mistake was becoming VP I believe. He shouldn't have let the governorship go, that might have helped him.

LagosOrigin:
Atiku is nothing without Peter Obi and never will be.

Nlfpmod

That's not truly.

PO will be entirely grateful to Atiku for giving him that 2019 opportunity to serve as his vice in his candidacy.

Why I fault Atiku is for his greed to contest 2023 and also planning to contest in 2027 elections knowing we'll that it is southern's turn.

LagosOrigin:
I tap from Peter Obi grace ..

He no dey bribe to get followers like tinubu, His followers too loyal..

I see why the NDC chairman named Peter Obi the principality of Nigerian politics .

I tap from Obi grace

Tinubu doesn't need followers, he has agberos and ebin pa wa.

The ADC was a useless party from the word go and their woes were compounded by Atiku's greed and desperation

This one will not face his job as sp...


What concerns him now with ADC and ndc and how dead they are?


After sowing tares in the night with his boss like the devil does.

Mr big mouth!

Peter Obi the Tsunami, nobody comes close to him, not even the incumbent President.

Interesting days ahead.
But what happens to Obi, if Atiku decides to decamp to NDC
. I'm curious

Apkabio talks too much. He should learn to talk less.beven Tinubu hardly talk

brain54:
This one will not face his job as sp...


What concerns him now with ADC and ndc?


Mr big mouth!

Very big mouth. He'd rather joke and make senseless comments than filter loans that Tinubu is taking.

This simply means Peter obi is a force to reckon with.

Obi kwankwaso is a done deal 🤝

Yemmysworld91:
Interesting days ahead.
But what happens to Obi, if Atiku decides to decamp to NDC
. I'm curious

That will happen if atiku is shameless and desperate ..

Joy go just full APC belle.

this man and yeye talk na 5 and 6 though ADC is on a free fall buh not dead

Tenses:
That's not truly.

PO will be entirely grateful to Atiku for giving him that 2019 opportunity to serve as his vice in his candidacy.

Why I fault Atiku is for his greed to contest 2023 and also planning to contest in 2027 elections knowing we'll that it is southern's turn.

So serving as a vice in a failed election is what made the man popular. Please, say something else.

LagosOrigin:
That will happen if atiku is shameless and desperate ..

Atiku is greedy but not shameless

The country has never had a worse speaker as Akpabio

Tenses:
Atiku you see your life

They didn't advise him well.

OneCandleAway:
I know Tinubu won't hand over to Atiku, so I wonder why he can't try to fix his children to achieve his dream. His mistake was becoming VP I believe. He shouldn't have let the governorship go, that might have helped him.

Atiku is politically naive but his ardent followers won't agree. He lacks political tactics to align and realise his ambitions, coupled with his arrogance that he is politically heavy weight.

Abubakar would have been the president by now, as we would have been gearing to either re elect him or looking for a way to boot him out just like Tinubu. He had the chance, the presidency was just a stone throw away from him but his arrogance blinded him. He surrounded himself till today with people who can't stand tall and tell him the truth.

If Atiku were to be wise, smart, and politically calculative he would have chosen Nyesom Wike as his VP and win the election. He would have tolerated Wike's excesses at least for the first tenure and replace him thereafter, instead he see himself as politically superior and richer than Wike....same mistake he makes with Peter Obi, same mistake many of them in the North usually make. Buhari did it too.

Atiku will finally be politically retired by 2027 by the younger generations.

Before nko. Let the greedy atiku go and eat his ADC card. Nigerians are tired of super corrupt politicians who have held Nigerians to ransome for ages. It's high time they vacated the space for those who are readily available and able to serve to take over. They keep falling down yet, they don't want to leave. What a height of wickedness

Atiku would be regretting ever taking Obi out of backward Anambra in 2019.

Atiku did not learn his lesson, and they brought Obi the "divider-in-chief" into ADC again in 2026.

But still, ADC would get more votes than NDC.

He's actually laughing at the constitution

Atiku can now eat the party


Stubborn man..

OneCandleAway:
I know Tinubu won't hand over to Atiku, so I wonder why he can't try to fix his children to achieve his dream. His mistake was becoming VP I believe. He shouldn't have let the governorship go, that might have helped him.

Story. VP vs Gov? SMH. Greed, entitlement mentality, and ego are all what have been killing Atiku since the time of Obasanjo. Osibanjo and Datti Baba Ahmed were very popular for being the Vp and vp candidate. Atiku lacked patience and always believing in his Northern block mentality

Obi nwanne. It is OK to be a Nigerian this time around.

These yeye politicians and their defecting smelly … is disturbing. Only loyal to themselves!.