No fewer than 17 members of the House of Representatives have defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), signalling deepening political shifts ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The defections were formally announced during plenary on Tuesday, marking a significant movement within the lower legislative chamber. In a separate development, Leke Abejide also exited the ADC to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lawmakers who moved to the NDC include Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Adamu Wakili, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, Oluwaseyi Sowunmi, Peter Aniekwe, Mukhtar Zakari, George Oluwande, and Munachim Umezuruike.
Others are Emeka Idu, Jesse Onuakalusi, Ifeanyi Uzokwe, Afam Ogene, Murphy Omoruyi, and Abdulhakeem Ado.
The latest defections come amid a wave of political realignments, as parties reposition and key figures shift allegiances in preparation for the next electoral cycle.
The movement of the lawmakers follows closely behind the recent defection of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Gregory Obi, and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who both joined the NDC from the ADC.
The duo were formally received into the party on Sunday after a closed-door meeting with NDC leaders and were issued membership cards in the presence of supporters.
Welcoming them into the party, former Bayelsa State Governor and NDC national leader, Senator Seriake Henry Dickson, described the party as stable and rapidly expanding.
Explaining his decision to leave the ADC, Obi pointed to internal tensions and external pressures within party structures, stating:
“Let me state clearly: my decision to leave the ADC is not because our highly respected Chairman, Senator David Mark, treated me badly, nor because my leader and elder brother, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or any other respected leaders did anything personally wrong to me. I will continue to respect them.
“However, the same Nigerian state and its agents that created unnecessary crises and hostility within the Labour Party that forced me to leave now appear to be finding their way into the ADC, with endless court cases, internal battles, suspicion, and division, instead of focusing on deeper national problems and playing politics built more on control and exclusion than on service and nation-building,”
Kwankwaso, on his part, urged Nigerians to align with the NDC, noting that his political base had already begun registration into the party.
In his remarks, Dickson emphasised the party’s internal cohesion and growth trajectory, stating:
“On behalf of the leaders of our party and on behalf of the teeming members of our party, well-meaning Nigerians from all over our country, who in the five months have defied all odds and conquered all doubts, and invested their trust and confidence in the dream and vision of this party. On behalf of all of them, I thank you all, and I welcome you all, especially to the NDC and my humble home,” he said.
He added that despite its relatively short existence, the NDC is prepared to “box above its weight.”
