More senators under pressure to defect

•APC’s strength may hit 102

More senators are set to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming days as the desperation to pick a ticket for the 2027 polls gathers momentum with political party primaries around the corner.

Findings on Sunday showed that between nine and 10 more senators may change camps, potentially positioning the APC to up its current numerical strength from 88 to 98 in the first instance.

The Nigerian Tribune also learnt that the ruling party is plotting to harvest the four vacant seats in the Senate when the bye-elections are conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to shore up the dominance to 102 senators eventually.

Three of the seats became vacant through circumstances of death while the fourth came through the appointment of the occupant by President Bola Tinubu as an ambassador.

Senators Okechukwu Ezea of the Labour Party; Godiya Akwashiki of the SDP; and Barinada Mpigi of the APC, all passed on to glory between November 2025 and February 2026.

The fourth Senator, Jimoh Ibrahim (APC), is Nigeria’s current Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN).

Sources told Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that the calculation is to take over the LP seat left by Ezea with Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, who is now solidly in the APC, to complete the groundwork for the party.

“In Nasarawa state, the APC will likely snatch the seat from the SDP; Rivers will surely be in the bag with the support of the FCT Minister, (Nyesom) Mr Wike.

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“Ondo is fully APC; Jimoh Ibrahim’s seat will be retained by the party. So, they are looking at it that these four seats are already in the bag,” one official informed our correspondent on Sunday.

Further investigations indicated that at least four of the current senators in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) were under pressure for a platform change due to the “uncertainty regarding the unresolved leadership crisis in the party”.

“The situation is giving goosebumps to the four PDP senators as well. It is unclear how soon or what the anticipated Supreme Court judgement on the various crises will be; there is anxiety over the fate of the lawmakers and 2027 tickets,” a source stated.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, is said to be in possession of more defection letters as affected senators fine-tune negotiations on “whether defection can in concrete terms, offer them tickets.”

Akpabio has lately hinted that he is in talks with at least five senators to facilitate their joining the APC.

“Even those five members have whispered to me that I should carry them to the President, the leader of the party that they are prepared to join the APC.

“As the President of the Senate, I will soon bring some of them,” Akpabio disclosed shortly after the Majority Whip of the Senate, Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP), announced his defection to the APC on April 23.

The current standings across parties are: APC, 88; ADC, 9, PDP, 4; NDC, 1; APGA, 1; NNPP; and Accord, 1, totalling 105 senators. There are four seats awaiting bye-elections by INEC.

Opposition political parties, particularly the PDP and the Labour Party, have witnessed a depletion of their membership in recent years, the APC being the major beneficiary.

From around 36 senators at the inauguration of the 10th Senate in June 2023, the PDP has dropped to four members, as the LP also crashed to zero from eight lawmakers.

Both the NNPP and the SDP had two members each at the beginning, while APGA and YPP had one senator apiece. However, the YPP has no members today, while NNPP and APGA retain one seat each.

From its 59 members at inauguration, the APC, the main beneficiary of the defections, has increased to 88.