A resurfaced Facebook post from nearly a decade ago has reignited political tensions in Nigeria’s Senate, casting a spotlight on Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s past stance against party defections—just as he faces mounting criticism for allegedly enabling them.
The controversial post, originally shared in November 2016 when Akpabio was a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), unequivocally condemned political defections. “As lawmakers, Senators must not encourage political rascality,” Akpabio wrote, referencing the defection of Senator Yele Omogunwa from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC). “The constitution is clear on this: if a Senator defects to another political party, he loses his seat.”
Now, as Senate President under the ruling APC, Akpabio is being accused of abandoning this principle. Critics claim he has turned a blind eye to a string of high-profile defections from the PDP to the APC in recent months—without calling for any of the defectors’ seats to be declared vacant.
On May 9, 2025, all three serving PDP senators from Kebbi State—Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South)—announced their defection to the APC following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa. Earlier in February, Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta North also formally joined the APC.
In response, PDP lawmakers staged a symbolic walkout during a recent plenary session—an echo of Akpabio’s own protest in 2016. Speaking on their behalf, Senator Abba Moro (Benue South) demanded that the Senate leadership uphold constitutional provisions: “If the Senate President once believed in protecting party mandates, he must now prove it by his actions.”
The revived 2016 statement has gone viral, sparking widespread public backlash. Political commentators, civil society groups, and ordinary Nigerians have accused Akpabio of double standards, hypocrisy, and failing to defend the sanctity of Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
Hobnob News Nigeria, which unearthed the Facebook post, notes that this controversy underscores growing concerns over the politicization of constitutional duties and the erosion of legislative integrity in the current Senate.
As pressure mounts, all eyes are now on Akpabio—will he reaffirm his old convictions, or will political expediency continue to prevail in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber?
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