Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has formally announced her defection from the Labour Party (LP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as political realignments gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Kingibe described the move as a deliberate step to position herself and her constituents for what she called “a stronger, people-focused platform”.
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“I’m totally and completely committed to ADC,” she declared. “But obviously, as the senator representing the federal capital territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go and collect cards. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”
Kingibe, who was among several prominent political figures spotted at the unveiling of ADC as the platform for a new opposition coalition on July 2, dismissed concerns about the legality of her defection under Nigeria’s constitutional provisions.
She argued that the Labour Party’s lingering factional crisis gives her clear grounds to switch parties without forfeiting her seat in the Senate.
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“I ask you to please read the constitution,” she said. “There are two factions of the Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty. So you say I should stay in the Labour Party. Which faction of the Labour Party do you want me to stay in?”
The senator insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has itself struggled to manage the party’s divisions. “Even INEC got two sets of results and candidates, though they didn’t accept any. There’s no question of that,” she added.
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Responding to questions about whether she is confident in the ADC’s leadership and its capacity to challenge the dominant parties, Kingibe struck an optimistic note, describing the party as “evolving”.
“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,” she said.
Kingibe’s defection comes amid an intensifying push by opposition figures to build coalitions capable of mounting a credible challenge to the ruling party in 2027. Her move is expected to spark debate within the LP, which has seen a surge in popularity since the last elections but remains riven by internal disputes.
Political watchers say all eyes will now be on whether the LP moves to challenge her decision in court — and whether Kingibe’s bet on the ADC can galvanise support in the FCT, one of the country’s most politically diverse constituencies.
