Four Senators Dump PDP for APC, Governing Party Now three Short of Absolute Majority in Senate
Four senators have defected from the PDP to APC, raising governing party’s membership to 70, three short of absolute majority.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have suffered a fresh blow in the Senate as four senators — two from Akwa Ibom and two from Osun— announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing deepening party crises, fractured leadership, and the need to align with current political realities in their districts.
Their resignation letters were formally read on the Senate floor by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary.
The defections have significantly altered the balance of power in the upper legislative chamber. With 70 seats now, the APC holds a commanding plurality in the 107-member Senate, falling just three senators short of an absolute majority of 73.
The PDP, weakened by internal divisions and legal disputes, now holds 28 seats. Meanwhile, the Labour Party occupies 5 seats, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has 2, and both the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have 1 seat each. Two Senate seats remain vacant—one in Edo Central and another in Anambra South—pending by-elections.
This latest shift in the chamber’s composition leaves the APC in a strengthened negotiating position, as it inches closer to dominating the Senate’s legislative agenda.
Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East) described his move as a “deeply considered” response to political shifts in his constituency and the internal disarray within the PDP.
“This decision, though deeply considered, has become imperative in view of the prevailing political developments both in my constituency and within the party structure which has been fractured beyond redemption,” he wrote.
