By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, were yesterday locked in a war of words over the frequent defection of senators from the opposition political parties to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
While Akpabio lampooned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, LP; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; the Social Democratic Party, SDP and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, for lack of organisation, which has paved way for defection of their members, Moro challenged him, saying that no matter the number of senators present, they are capable of holding their own.
Akpabio noted that Nigeria would not be a one party state but urged opposition parties to organise themselves because, according to him, they are all in tatters.
He added that the right thing for them to do at the moment was to join him and President Bola Tinubu to move the country forward.
Both Akpabio and Moro spoke yesterday when Senator Kelvin Chukwu dumped the Labour Party, LP, for the APC.
Senator Chukwu said he was cross-carpeting because of what he described as the collapse of internal democracy and tattered nature of his party.
With his defection, APC now has 73senators; PDP 28; Labour Party, LP, 4; NNPP 1; SDP 1; and APGA 2.
Soon after the Senate president read the letter of defection by Senator Chukwu, he said: “I have always worried about the left side of the aisle but I’m no longer worried. If they like, let them all move here. Your discretion leaving a tattered house is hereby accepted.
“I wanted a few of them to remain. Senator Osita, Minority leader, Abba Moro, you are the only one left to hold. After that you go with Senator Abaribe, even from the way his face is set, I don’t think Senator Abaribe is ready to join us.
‘’No, don’t give me any update yet, your party is in tatters, what are you waiting for. As soon as I mentioned the word defection, his face got tightened, I will still mention it, no matter how you look at me, you are the only one left there.
“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 and join Mr. President, so we can together move this country forward.
‘’We are not going to have one party system, that is why INEC is registering more parties, please put your house in order.
“I have been looking at the way you are getting depleted on a daily basis and and I am in total sympathy with what is going on in the PDP, which is on the ground. The umbrella is torn, Labour Party is scattered, sorry ADC crashed even before it took off, so I would like to give you a right of response not to lament on the loss of Senator Kelvin Chukwu but to congratulate my colleagues on this side of the isle.”
After Akpabio’s remarks, the Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro replied him, saying “Mr. President, I want to say with due respect that you are the President of the Senate and I respect you, sir.
‘’Mr. President, without due respect and without prejudice to some achievements Mr. President has made, I want to say that no matter the number that are here, we are capable of holding our own. You said all politics are local.
“Those who are gravitating towards the majority side are exercising their rights. But my brother and friend, Kelvin, who has just left the third row here, to go to the last row there. I wish him good luck. But Mr. President, when it was announced that he was going and he said he had made adequate consultations, I asked a question. Who has he consulted?
‘’Because he didn’t talk to me. And I do know that because all politics are local, my brother came here on the Obidient movement.”
“He came here on sympathy vote because an accident happened. But that is a story for another day. So Mr. President, I want to say that this House is becoming too full and it should be of some concern to you. So on that note, I want to say 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.”
Earlier in the letter of defection read by the President of the Senate, Senator Kelvin Chukwu, Enugu East, said: “I write to formally notify you and my distinguished colleagues in the Nigerian Senate. of my decision to resign my membership of the Labour Party and join the All Progressives Congress.
“Effective immediately, this decision was reached after extensive consultations with my constituents in my senatorial district, my political associates and stakeholders across various levels, in Enugu State.
‘’It is a reflection of my commitment to aligning with a platform that works and I believe I’ll do better and represent the collective interest of my people better.
“I will bring more dividends of democracy, I’ll meet the aspirations of the good people of Enugu East senatorial district and Nigerians at large. Recent developments, including internal wranglings, leadership crises, policy disagreements, lack of cohesion, lack of direction, lack of focus at both the state and national levels have made it increasingly difficult for me to effectively discharge my duties to represent my constituents under its balance.
“These challenges have undermined the core values and principles upon which the Labour Party was initially founded.’’