Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress has strengthened its grip on the National Assembly of Nigeria, moving closer to having the numbers required to alter the country’s constitution with minimal reliance on opposition support.
The party currently holds 84 seats in the Senate of Nigeria and about 231 seats in the House of Representatives of Nigeria. With these figures, the APC has already crossed the two-thirds threshold required in the Senate to advance constitutional amendments.
The development represents a major shift in Nigeria’s parliamentary balance, consolidating significant legislative influence in the hands of the ruling party, which also controls 31 state governorships across the country.
The party’s dominance in the Senate increased further after three senators defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC. The latest defections reduced the PDP’s strength in the Senate to 14 members while boosting the APC’s tally to 84 senators.
The defecting lawmakers are Amos Yunana, Aminu Iya Abbas and Ikra Aliyu Bilbis. Their defection came shortly after Ipalibo Banigo also left the PDP for the APC.
The Senate currently has 106 serving members instead of the constitutionally required 109 following the deaths of Godiya Akwashiki, Okechukwu Ezea and Barinada Mpigi.
Despite the vacancies, analysts say the APC’s numerical strength gives it significant legislative leverage, particularly on bills requiring special majority votes.
In the House of Representatives, the APC has also expanded its presence through a series of defections from opposition parties. The party now controls roughly 231 out of the 360 seats in the chamber, representing more than 64 percent of its total membership.
The PDP currently holds about 83 seats, while the Labour Party has 22 lawmakers. Other parties represented include the New Nigeria Peoples Party with 15 members, the All Progressives Grand Alliance with five seats, the Social Democratic Party with two members, and the African Democratic Congress and Young Progressives Party with one seat each.
At the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June 2023, the political composition of the House was more fragmented, with the APC holding 162 seats and the PDP controlling 102 seats. However, months of cross-carpeting by lawmakers from opposition parties have significantly increased the ruling party’s dominance.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced the latest defections during plenary after reading letters submitted by the lawmakers.
Akpabio described the trend as unprecedented since Nigeria gained independence in 1960, noting that it mirrored the reverse situation during the 8th Senate in 2018 when several lawmakers defected from the APC to the PDP, including former Senate President Bukola Saraki.
“To me, what is happening now between PDP and APC senators is more like a one-all draw,” Akpabio said.
“In 2018 during the 8th National Assembly, about 30 senators defected from APC to PDP in a single day. Now, during the 10th National Assembly, PDP senators are the ones defecting in large numbers to the APC.”
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, attributed the defections to growing confidence in the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to him, lawmakers joining the ruling party believe the government’s economic and governance reforms are beginning to yield results.
Political observers, however, have warned that the growing dominance of the APC in the National Assembly could weaken opposition influence and reduce the level of parliamentary scrutiny of government policies as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections.
