No fewer than 17 members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives have defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), with their move formally announced on the floor of the House during plenary on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
The defections were announced amid ongoing political realignments as parties position themselves for the 2027 general elections. Also announced was the defection of Hon. Leke Abejide from the ADC to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Channels TV, the lawmakers who switched to the NDC include: Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Adamu Wakili, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, Oluwaseyi Sowunmi, Peter Aniekwe, Mukhtar Zakari, George Oluwande, Munachim Umezuruike, Emeka Idu, Jesse Onuakalusi, Ifeanyi Uzokwe, Afam Ogene, and Abdulhakeem Ado.
The mass defection comes barely two days after former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Kano State Governor Musa Kwankwaso formally joined the NDC from the ADC.
Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, and Kwankwaso, the 2023 NNPP presidential candidate, received their NDC membership cards on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
Explaining his decision, Obi cited worsening internal crises, external interference, and a toxic political environment.
He stated, “Let me state clearly: my decision to leave the ADC is not because our highly respected Chairman, Senator David Mark, treated me badly, nor because my leader and elder brother, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or any other respected leaders did anything personally wrong to me. I will continue to respect them.”
“However, the same Nigerian state and its agents that created unnecessary crises and hostility within the Labour Party that forced me to leave now appear to be finding their way into the ADC, with endless court cases, internal battles, suspicion, and division, instead of focusing on deeper national problems…” Obi added.
Welcoming the new members, NDC national leader Senator Seriake Dickson described the party as one “devoid of litigation and factions” and Nigeria’s “most stable, fastest-growing political party.”
“On behalf of the leaders of our party and on behalf of the teeming members of our party… I welcome you all, especially to the NDC and my humble home,” Dickson said.
He added that the young party is ready to “box above its weight.”
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I want to be a member