Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory at the National Assembly, has formally left the Labour Party (LP) and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The announcement was made during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, where Kingibe described her move as deliberate, strategic, and within her constitutional rights. She expressed total commitment to her new party and revealed that her formal induction into the ADC would be marked with celebration.
“I’m totally and completely committed to ADC,” she said. “But obviously, as the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go collect a card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”
Senator Kingibe acknowledged that ADC is still growing but compared the party to a developing child. “It’s something that is evolving. You don’t judge a child’s future while they’re still crawling,” she explained.
Addressing concerns over potentially losing her Senate seat following the defection, Kingibe emphasized that the existence of two clear factions within the Labour Party provided a valid constitutional basis for her move.
“There are two factions — clear factions — of Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for someone to decamp without penalty applies in this case,” she asserted.
She further explained that during the last elections, even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) received conflicting submissions from the LP factions. “So if you ask me to stay in Labour Party, which faction do you want me to stay in?” she asked.
Senator Kingibe insisted that her defection was lawful, respectful of constitutional provisions, and motivated by a desire to maintain political stability and progress.
“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 the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go. I just chose ADC,” she added.
Her defection marks a significant shift in the FCT political landscape as the countdown to the 2027 elections begins.
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