“Put your house in order” – Senate President tells minority parties

Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, has taunted opposition following the defection of Kelvin Chukwu, senator representing Enugu East.

Akpabio, on Wednesday, aimed a dig at the opposition lawmakers in the upper legislative chamber after Chukwu moved to the ruling party from the APC.

Chukwu, who announced his defection during plenary, attributed his decision to a lingering leadership crisis within the LP.

His move increased the APC’s strength in the 10th Senate to 73 members, giving the ruling party a two-thirds majority and consolidating its control of the chamber.

Akpabio seized the moment to mock opposition ranks, saying the growing wave of defections was evidence of disarray among their parties.

“I want a strong and vibrant opposition in Nigeria. But where they are not able to organise themselves and all the political parties are in tatters, then the right thing for them to do is to join me so that we can together move this country forward,” he said.

The Senate President further joked that the nation was not heading for a one-party system, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was still registering new political parties.

“Please, put your house in order. I have been looking at the way you are getting depleted on a daily basis, and I am in total sympathy with what is going on.

“The PDP is on the ground. The umbrella is torn. The Labour Party is in tatters. Accord Party is no more. The ADC even crashed before it took off,” Akpabio said.

He congratulated APC senators on “gaining a strong senatorial district in Enugu,” before inviting the minority leader, Abba Moro, to respond.

Moro, however, dismissed suggestions that the opposition was crumbling, insisting that the minority caucus remained united and resolute.

“With due respect, you are the president of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I respect you, sir. But no matter the number here, we are capable of holding our own” Moro said.

He added that defectors were merely exercising their political rights and wished Chukwu well.

“I want to wish my brother and friend, Kelvin, who has just left the third row here to go to the last row there, good luck.

“I do know that my brother came here on the back of the Obidient Movement— he came here on a sympathy vote. But that is a story for another day,” he said.

Moro also observed that the ruling party’s side of the chamber was becoming crowded, a situation he said should concern Akpabio.

“For the rest of us that are here, Mr President, we are satisfied that we are still here, and we will try to remain here until 2027,” he added.

Chukwu’s defection reduced the Labour Party’s representation in the Senate to four members, leaving Okey Ezea (Enugu North) as the party’s only remaining senator from Enugu State.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) currently holds 28 seats, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have one senator each while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) retains two.