Ireti Kingibe, Senator representing Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in National Assembly, has officially announced her departure from the Labour Party (LP) to join African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of 2027 general elections.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking to reporters in Abuja, Kingibe described her defection as a well-considered and strategic decision, one that will be publicly formalized with a ceremony.
She said, “I’m totally and completely committed to ADC.”
“But obviously, as the senator representing the federal capital territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go and collect card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”
When questioned about her confidence in ADC’s leadership and its position in the opposition coalition, the senator described the party as a work in progress.
She said, “ 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.”
Addressing concerns that her switch might trigger constitutional sanctions or jeopardize her Senate seat, Kingibe cited the Labour Party’s current internal division as the legal basis for her move.
She added that the split was evident even to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which reportedly received parallel candidates and results from both factions in recent elections.
Kingibe explained that her decision was not just legally defensible but politically necessary, as she seeks to align with a platform that represents stability and long-term vision.
She said, “I ask you to please read the constitution. There are two factions clear of Labour Party. The perfect definition that the constitution gives for somebody to decamp without penalty.”
“So you say I should stay in Labour Party. Which faction of Labour Party do you want me to stay in?”
“There are two clear distinct ones. Even INEC got two sets of results and candidates, though they didn’t accept any. There’s no question of that.”
“Even the time when we didn’t have two clear factions, did you see anybody implementing it?”
“But I do follow the law. And if there were not two distinct factions of Labour Party, I would not presume to decamp, because that is unconstitutional. But they are.”
“And this is the definition that the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go to. I just chose ADC.”
