Just In: Defections Rock Labour Party As Four House Of Reps Members Switch To APC

The Labour Party has suffered a significant blow as four of its members in the House of Representatives have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The announcement was made by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen during Thursday’s plenary session.

The lawmakers who left the Labour Party are Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West Constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Constituency), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo State).

They were joined by Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, a Delta State representative and daughter of former Governor James Ibori, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

Reacting to the defections, Minority Whip Ali Isah JC (PDP-Gombe) urged the Speaker to declare the defectors’ seats vacant, citing Section 68(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

However, Speaker Abbas dismissed the call, stating:

“The lawmaker has failed to quote the whole section he cited to justify his call to declare the seats vacant.”

Explaining his decision, Mathew Donatus of Kaura Constituency said the defection was based on personal conviction rather than external pressure.

“You cannot just work on the decision of the people at the constituency level because you are dealing with people with different levels of understanding. I am taking this decision based on conviction. That is why whether you like it or not, there are people within the constituency who are convinced that it (defection) is the right decision for them. There are those who are skeptical, waiting for the outcome,” he said.

The Labour Party’s performance in the 2023 elections made it Nigeria’s third-largest political party, winning numerous seats in the federal legislature, state assemblies, and the governorship of Abia State. This success was largely attributed to the popularity of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who finished third in the presidential race.