By Musa Baba Adamu
The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Announcing her defection to newsmen in Abuja, Kingibe described the move as deliberate and strategic.
He revealed that her formal entry into the ADC will be marked by what she called “noise and fanfare. I’m totally and completely committed to ADC. But obviously, as the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go and collect a card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare,” she said.
When asked about her confidence in the ADC’s leadership and the coalition it is building, the senator said: “It’s something that is evolving. So you cannot say while your child is still crawling that you are not happy with how he’s going to run. You wait. We are growing.”
Responding to concerns that her defection might cost her the senate seat based on constitutional provisions, Kingibe said the LP is currently split into two factions — a situation which, she argued, legally allows her to move.
She said: “I ask you to please read the constitution. There are two factions clear of Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty.
“So you say I should stay in Labour Party. Which faction of Labour Party do you want me to stay in?
“There are two clear distinct ones. Even INEC got two sets of results and candidates, though they didn’t accept any. There’s no question of that.
“Even the time when we didn’t have two clear factions, did you see anybody implementing it?
“But I do follow the law. And if there were not two distinct factions of Labour Party, I would not presume to decamp, because that is unconstitutional. But they are.
“And this is the definition that the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go to. I just chose ADC.”
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