Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the National Assembly, has officially announced her resignation from the Labour Party (LP), announcing her defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general election.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday, Kingibe described her move as a calculated and deliberate political decision, noting that her formal induction into the ADC would be marked with “fanfare.”

“I’m totally and completely committed to ADC,” she affirmed. 

“But, 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.”

Responding to questions about her confidence in ADC’s leadership and the evolving opposition political coalition, Kingibe expressed optimism while acknowledging that the party is still in its formative stages.

“It’s something that is evolving,” she said.

 “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.”

On whether her defection could cost her Senate seat based on constitutional provisions, the senator argued that the internal crisis and the existence of two clear factions within the Labour Party legally justified her decision to leave.

“I ask you to please read the constitution. There are two factions — clear factions — of the Labour Party,” Kingibe said. “The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty applies in this case.”

“Even INEC got two sets of results and candidates, though they didn’t accept any. So if you ask me to stay in the Labour Party, which faction do you want me to stay in?”

She maintained that her move was constitutional and grounded in her respect for the rule of law.

“If there were not two distinct factions of the 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.

Chuks Okocha

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