Sen Ireti Kingibe Quits LP for ADC, Gives Reasons

Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the Senate, has officially defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), ahead of the 2027 general election. Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Kingibe described the move as a carefully considered political decision, stating that her formal induction into the ADC would be marked with “noise and fanfare.”

“I’m totally and completely committed to ADC,” she said. “But obviously, as the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, don’t expect me to just take a lunch break and go collect a card. I want to do so with noise and fanfare.”

Kingibe expressed confidence in ADC’s leadership and the broader coalition she is joining, while also acknowledging that the party is still developing. “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.

Addressing the legality of her defection, Kingibe stressed that her decision was constitutional and rooted in her respect for the rule of law. “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 the constitution gave why it would be okay to decamp to anywhere I wanted to go. I just chose ADC.”