The Nigerian Senate turned into a battleground of political fireworks on Wednesday as lawmakers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and those of major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), clashed over the defection of Delta North Senator, Ned Nwoko, from the PDP to the APC.
What was expected to be a routine plenary session quickly descended into heated exchanges as PDP Senators challenged Nwoko’s defection, arguing that the party was not in crisis and, therefore, his move was unconstitutional.
The debate kicked off when Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro raised a constitutional point of order, questioning whether there was a division within the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) to justify Nwoko’s defection.
Moro engaged Deputy Senate President Jibril Barau, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a tense exchange over the constitutional basis for switching parties.
But, Barau defended Nwoko’s defection, insisting that the Nigerian Constitution allows lawmakers to decamp if their political party is facing internal division.
“Everybody in the country knows that there is a division. You have the Wike faction and the Bala Mohammed faction,” Barau asserted.
Moro, however, countered Barau’s claim, stating, “I want to say at this point that the PDP is a law-abiding institution. The Court of Appeal has made a pronouncement on the party’s secretaryship, and the PDP is adhering to that ruling until the Supreme Court decides otherwise.”
At that point, Senate President Akpabio interjected, asking, “What does the Supreme Court say?”
Moro continued, emphasising that the PDP recognises Ude-Okoye as its national secretary, in compliance with the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
But, Akpabio cut in again, questioning, “What about your governors? What did your governors say? Minority leader, we are going to set up an ad-hoc committee to look into your party affairs.”
In his final ruling, Akpabio dismissed the PDP’s objections, stating that the Senate could not assume the role of a court in determining party divisions.
He upheld Nwoko’s defection to Aapc and ruled Moro out of order, allowing legislative proceedings to continue.
The exchange highlighted the ongoing battle for political supremacy within the Senate, with party alignments continuing to shift ahead of the 2027 general election.
Earlier in the session, Akpabio had read Nwoko’s defection letter, in which the Delta North Senator urged the Senate to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the crisis within the PDP and recommend a way forward to safeguard Nigeria’s democracy.
With tensions still high, the Senate proceeded to the next item on its agenda, but the political drama of the day left no one in doubt that the struggle for dominance between the APC and PDP in the upper legislative chamber was far from over.
