The Labour Party (LP) has announced its intention to pursue legal action against lawmakers and other elected officials defecting to other political parties without relinquishing their mandates.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that four Labour Party lawmakers defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) without citing the reason for their defection.
The defecting lawmakers are Tochukwu Chinedu Okere (Imo), Donatus Matthew (Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Cross River), and Esosa Iyawe (Edo).
In a statement issued on Thursday, Obiorah Ifoh, the party’s national publicity secretary, condemned the trend, emphasizing the party’s commitment to preserving its democratic ideals.
Ifoh revealed that the party has established a “Hall of Shame” register to document these defections.
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“These lawmakers will feature prominently in the register. We call on Nigerians to beware of this genre of politicians, who lack a clear democratic ideology and instead follow a ‘Jumpology’ mentality, hopping from one party to another in disregard of the enabling laws and without any ideological foundation,” Ifoh stated.
The Labour Party leadership has directed its legal team to initiate proceedings to reclaim the mandates of defectors in accordance with the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act.
Ifoh cited constitutional provisions that disallow elected officials from switching parties without valid justification, such as division within the party or a merger involving their original political party.
“The party will also approach the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the seats occupied by these former Labour Party members in line with the House Rules,” Ifoh added
He emphasized that continuing to function as representatives under such circumstances is “inappropriate and unacceptable.”
This is not the first instance of defection within the Labour Party.
In July, Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), with his defection letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the Senate floor.
Despite these setbacks, the Labour Party remains determined to safeguard its mandates and principles, vowing to hold defectors accountable and discourage further acts of political opportunism.
