A 2016 Facebook post by Senate President Godswill Akpabio has re-emerged online, stirring controversy amid a series of defections currently destabilizing the Nigerian Senate.
The post, made during Akpabio’s tenure as a senator under the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), asserted that lawmakers who defect from the party on which they were elected should lose their seats.
Akpabio wrote:
“As lawmakers, Senators must not encourage political rascality… The constitution is clear on this: if a Senator defects to another political party, he loses his seat.”
Fast forward to 2025, and Akpabio, now Senate President under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is being criticized for allegedly turning a blind eye as several PDP senators cross over to the APC without consequence.
The controversy intensified after three PDP senators from Kebbi State—Adamu Aliero, Yahaya Abdullahi, and Garba Maidoki—defected to the APC following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
This follows an earlier defection in February by Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta North.
Despite the wave of defections, Akpabio has yet to initiate any process to declare the seats of the defectors vacant, prompting accusations of political bias and inconsistency.
In protest, PDP senators staged a walkout during a recent plenary, echoing the very stance Akpabio took in 2016.
Speaking on their behalf, Senator Abba Moro (Benue South) said:
“We cannot stand by and watch as the sanctity of our democratic institutions is eroded by political expediency. If the Senate President once believed in protecting party mandates, he must now prove it by his actions.”
