Labour Party condemns members’ defection

The Labour Party (LP) has condemned the defection of some of its lawmakers in the House of Representatives into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing defectors as aliens to what democracy stands for.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Obiora Ifoh, made this statement in Abuja on Thursday.

He announced that the LP has established a “Hall of Shame” to highlight the names of individuals who have dishonored the party and the countless supporters who, against all odds, voted them into office.
Ifoh indicated that the party plans to approach the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the coming days to request the declaration of the affected lawmakers’ seats as vacant, in accordance with the relevant sections of the constitution. Expressing the party’s dissatisfaction with what he described as an unfortunate situation.

“The leadership of Labour Party has received with discontentment the news of defection, today of some lawmakers representing the party in the National Assembly to the ruling APC
“The Reps members include Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo) and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).

“Their letter of defection to the APC was read on the Green Chamber floor by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas. “The defection, to us, is quite unfortunate and we condemn the action which is irrational, untenable, inconsistent and alien to all known norms for which democracy stands for.
“Section 68(g) of the 1999 constitution is emphatic on when to defect and what happens when a lawmaker sponsored by a political party decides to jump ship.

“The Constitution states (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; “Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.
“Since the formation of the Labour Party in 2002, the party has been very active in the political scene having in the past produced a governor and several other elected officers across board.
“But it was in the 2023 general election that it achieved its highest feat under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure having won a governorship seat, 8 Senate and 35 House of Representative seats as well as numerous state House of Assembly seats.

“The party also caused a major upset at the presidential election, one that many Nigerians still believed that Labour Party won,” he said