APC secures firmer grip on Senate as Enugu Labour senator switches camp

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has tightened its dominance in the National Assembly after Senator Kelvin Chukwu, representing Enugu East, announced his defection from the Labour Party (LP) to the APC.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio made the announcement during plenary on Wednesday, confirming that the APC’s strength in the Red Chamber has risen to 73 seats, surpassing the two-thirds majority mark.

Chukwu, who entered the Senate in 2023 after the assassination of his brother, Oyibo Chukwu, explained that the ongoing factional crisis within the Labour Party compelled him to cross over.

“The protracted crisis rocking the LP, which has led to its fractionalisation, is a development that is seriously affecting its members,” he said in his letter to the Senate.

His defection leaves the LP with only four senators in the 10th Senate, with Senator Okey Ezea (Enugu North) now its sole representative from Enugu State.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retains 28 seats; the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have one senator each, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) controls two.

Chukwu’s switch follows a pattern of recent defections to the APC, further consolidating the party’s hold on the legislature. In recent months, PDP senators Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), Oluwole Olubiyi (Osun Central), Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East), and Samson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South) have all dumped their party for the ruling APC, citing internal disputes.

Bassey, in his defence, relied on Sections 40 and 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which allow lawmakers to defect if their party is embroiled in a division.

Observers warn that the growing wave of defections may tip Nigeria’s democracy into a near one-party legislature, weakening checks and balances and eroding the role of the opposition in providing oversight of the executive.