Senator Tony Nwoye of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, emerged as the new Minority Whip of the Senate following a fresh wave of defections in the apex legislative Assembly.

Nwoye, who represents Anambra North Senatorial District, was unanimously chosen by the Minority Caucus to fill the vacancy after his predecessor, Osita Ngwu, formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC on Wednesday.

In a letter read on the floor by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Enugu West Senator, Ngwu, said that his move was to align politically with Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah and President Bola Tinubu.

He described the APC as “the most stable political platform in the country”, stressing that he was deeply convinced to make his decision to join the ruling party.

Nwoye was elected to the Senate in 2023 on the Labour Party (LP) platform before switching to the ADC in late 2025.

The shift is part of a wider trend in the upper legislative chamber as Senator Anthony Siyako Yaro (Gombe South) also announced his defection from the PDP to the APC, citing unresolved internal crises in his former party.

Similarly, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Aliyu Wadada, confirmed his defection from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the APC.

Wadada noted that while he had earlier joined the ruling party in August last year, all formal processes of his defection were concluded on Wednesday.

He is also widely reported to have secured endorsement as the APC’s consensus governorship candidate for Nasarawa State ahead of the 2027 elections.

Reacting to the developments, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC Edo North), praised the lawmakers for what he called peaceful and constitutional transitions, adding that the growing number of defections reflects increasing confidence in the APC and President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

With the latest wave of defections in the Senate, the current configuration of Senators across party lines is: 90 for APC, nine for ADC, four for PDP, one each for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Accord Party, totalling 105 out of the 109 seats.

The remaining four vacant seats arose from death of three Senators whose seats are yet to be filled and the Ondo South Senatorial seat, which became vacant following the appointment of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.