The Labour Party has threatened to take legal action against its members in the House of Representatives who recently announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
No fewer than five lawmakers elected on the Labour Party platform cross-carpeted to the APC on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
The defecting lawmakers include Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), and Fom Dalyop Chollom (Plateau).
The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, read their defection letters on Thursday on the floor of the Green Chamber.
ALSO READ: Labour Party Reps caucus unite in support of Farotimi, demand judicial neutrality
Reacting to the development, the opposition party said it would ask the House of Representatives leadership to declare the seats of the defecting members vacant.
Labour Party to name and shame defectors
The Labour Party also announced it had opened a ‘Hall of Shame’ register for lawmakers and other elected officials who betray the party by pitching their tent with other parties.
Obiora Ifoh, the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, disclosed these in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
“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,” Ifoh stated.
According to the party, the defectors had “demonstrated a grave level of character deficit by betraying public trust,” adding that “if we want this democracy to thrive, we must isolate these political merchants and opportunists, and help bury their mercantilist political enterprises by snubbing, affronting, and rejecting them in future elections.”
The Labour Party official further noted that Section 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution is clear on when a lawmaker can defect and the consequences when a lawmaker switches sides.
Ifoh said that since its formation in 2002, the opposition party had been active on the political scene, producing a governor and several elected officials across various levels of government.
