Kehinde Fajobi
The Labour Party (LP) has announced its intention to ask the leadership of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the seats of lawmakers who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party also plans to take legal action against the defectors.
The announcement was made on Thursday in a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja.
Ifoh expressed concerns following the defection of five LP lawmakers: Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
Their defection letters were read on the House floor by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
In the statement, Ifoh revealed that LP had created a “Hall of Shame” register for lawmakers and other elected officials who defect without relinquishing their mandates.
“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,” he said.
“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 added.
The party emphasised that the defections would not go unchallenged.
“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 statement read.
LP also plans to urge the Speaker of the House to declare the defectors’ seats vacant, citing House rules.
“It is inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally,” Ifoh said.
Criticising the defectors, LP described them as having a “grave level of character deficit” and accused them of betraying public trust.
The party called on Nigerians to reject such politicians in future elections, saying, “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.”
Ifoh further pointed to Section 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which specifies conditions under which lawmakers can defect and the consequences of doing so.
The party recalled its consistent presence in the political scene since its formation in 2002, noting its history of producing a governor and other elected officials.