Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Minority Leader Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) on Wednesday engaged in a heated exchange over the continuous defection of lawmakers from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The confrontation followed the defection of Senator Kelvin Chukwu (Enugu East) from the Labour Party (LP) to the APC.
In his defection letter, read on the Senate floor, Chukwu cited the “collapse of internal democracy” and “lack of cohesion” within the Labour Party as reasons for his decision to join the ruling party.
After reading the letter, Akpabio appeared to mock the opposition, saying he was no longer concerned about their shrinking numbers in the Senate.
He said: “If they like, let them all move here. Your decision to leave a tattered house is accepted. The opposition should go and organize themselves — all the political parties are in tatters.”
His remarks drew a swift response from Senator Abba Moro, who cautioned the Senate President to maintain neutrality as the presiding officer of the upper chamber.
“Mr. President, with due respect, you are the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No matter the number that are here, we are capable of holding our own,” Moro said.
The Minority Leader also voiced concern over the increasing wave of defections to the APC, saying the chamber was “becoming too full.”
He added: “He (Chukwu) came here on the Obedient Movement, on a sympathy vote — but that’s a story for another day.”
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