The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has tightened its grip on the Nigerian Senate after Senator Kelvin Chukwu, representing Enugu East, dumped the Labour Party (LP) for the APC.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced Chukwu’s defection during Wednesday’s plenary session in Abuja. With his move, the APC now holds 73 out of 109 seats in the upper chamber — giving the party a two-thirds majority.
Chukwu, who replaced his late brother, Oyibo Chukwu, after the 2023 elections, said he left the Labour Party because of internal divisions.
“The protracted crisis rocking the LP, which has led to its fractionalisation, is a development that is seriously affecting its members,” he explained.
His defection leaves the Labour Party with only four senators in the 10th Senate. Senator Okey Ezea from Enugu North is now the party’s only representative from the state.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) currently holds 28 seats, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have one senator each. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) retains two seats.
Chukwu’s move is the latest in a growing wave of defections that have strengthened the APC’s dominance. In recent months, four PDP senators — Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), Oluwole Olubiyi (Osun Central), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East), and Samson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South) — have all joined the ruling party, citing internal crises in the PDP.
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Bassey, one of the defectors, had relied on Sections 40 and 68(1)(g) of the Nigerian Constitution to justify his defection.
Political observers say the growing dominance of the APC in the Senate could weaken opposition voices and reduce checks on the executive arm of government.
However, APC leaders have welcomed the defections, describing them as “a sign of growing confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s leadership and the ruling party’s policies.”