Just In: Senator Abaribe Quits ADC, Joins Labour Party Citing Legal Uncertainties

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South Senatorial District, has officially resigned from the African Democratic Congress and joined the Labour Party.

The defection, announced on Monday, comes barely two months after the fifth-term senator was among nine lawmakers who defected to the ADC on the floor of the Senate in March.

In a statement issued to his associates, Abaribe said his decision was necessitated by ongoing legal uncertainties surrounding the ADC.

“Given the uncertainties concerning the ADC with regard to the multiple lawsuits and court judgements, I have today resigned from the ADC and joined the Labour Party effectively immediately,” the senator said.

He emphasised that his resignation was not a result of any disagreement with the ADC leadership or its members.

“This has nothing to do with the leadership and members whom I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy close and solid relationships with,” he added.

Describing the move as difficult, Abaribe said, “It is a tough call, but leadership means making tough calls in uncertain times.”

His media aide, Uche Awom, confirmed the development to news outlets on Monday.

The 71-year-old lawmaker, who first entered the Senate in 2007 under the Peoples Democratic Party, was re-elected in 2023 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

He was later suspended by APGA in September 2025 before formally resigning in December of the same year.

Abaribe currently serves as one of the longest-serving lawmakers in the upper chamber and is seeking a sixth term in the Senate.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, however, questioned the validity of Abaribe’s initial defection to the ADC in March, threatening to declare his seat vacant if he could not provide evidence of division in APGA as required under Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

The senator had argued that his expulsion from APGA justified his move to another party.

It remains unclear whether the latest defection to the Labour Party will attract similar constitutional scrutiny from the Senate leadership.