RismadarVoice Reporters, April 22, 2026
Senator Tony Nwoye, representing Anambra North Senatorial District, has emerged as the new Senate Minority Whip following a string of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Nwoye was unanimously selected by the Senate minority caucus to fill the position vacated by Senator Osita Ngwu, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC on Wednesday.
In a letter read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Ngwu said his decision to leave the PDP was driven by his desire to align with Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah and President Bola Tinubu. He described the APC as the most stable political platform in the country.
Senator Nwoye, a former member of the Labour Party (LP), was elected into the Senate in 2023 before defecting to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in late 2025.
Meanwhile, the wave of defections continued as Senator Anthony Siyako Yaro (Gombe South) also announced his exit from the PDP to join the APC, citing persistent internal crises within his former party.
Similarly, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Aliyu Wadada, confirmed his defection from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the APC. Wadada, who has been endorsed as the APC’s consensus governorship candidate for Nasarawa State ahead of the 2027 elections, said he had earlier joined the party but only completed the formalities on Wednesday.
Reacting to the development, Senator Adams Oshiomhole commended the lawmakers for what he described as peaceful and constitutional defections. He added that the growing number of lawmakers joining the APC reflects increasing confidence in the party’s leadership and the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
With the latest defections, the APC now holds a total of 91 seats in the Senate, further consolidating its majority in the upper legislative chamber.
