The Labour Party has vowed to take legal action against four members of the House of Representatives who switched to the All Progressives Congress (APC) earlier on Thursday.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
He said the party would request the leadership of the House of Representatives to declare the lawmakers’ seats vacant.
The spokesman added that the LP leadership had opened a register for members of the House and other elected officials who disgrace the party by switching allegiance to other political platforms.
The Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, had during plenary announced the lawmakers’ defection to the APC.
The lawmakers in question are Chinedu Okere (Owerri municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West Federal Constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency of Cross River), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo).
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The lawmakers attributed their defection to an alleged crisis within the LP.
The statement read: “The party has also decided to open a ‘Hall of Shame’ register for these lawmakers or any elected official of the party who engages in fraudulent defection without first relinquishing the mandate obtained under the party’s ticket.
“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.
“Although the Labour Party leadership remains undaunted by the defections, it has decided not to let it go unchallenged. The party has instructed its legal team to take action against the defectors and begin the process of regaining our mandates in line with the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act as amended.
“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 House rules. It is inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally.”
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