Four members of the House of Representatives have officially left the Labour Party (LP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defections were announced by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during Thursday’s plenary session.
The lawmakers who switched allegiance are:
- Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West Federal Constituency, Imo State)
- Mathew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna State)
- Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Cross River State)
- Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo State)
The defectors cited ongoing internal crises within the Labour Party as their primary reason for leaving. Commending their decision, Speaker Abbas described it as “the right move” in light of the challenges within the LP.
PDP Lawmaker Also Joins APC
In a related development, Erhriatake Ibori-Suenu, who represents Ethiope Federal Constituency in Delta State, also defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
Ibori-Suenu, the daughter of former Delta State Governor and PDP stalwart James Ibori, is the latest in a series of PDP members leaving for the ruling party.
Opposition Leaders Protest
The defections were met with strong protests from opposition lawmakers. Ali Isa, the Minority Whip, and George Ozodinobi, the Deputy Minority Whip, expressed their dissatisfaction with the growing trend of lawmakers switching parties.
Ozodinobi, a prominent Labour Party leader, accused the defectors of lacking ideological commitment, stating, “When people join a party without ideology, you see such defections.” He further criticized the APC, blaming the party for Nigeria’s worsening economic challenges.
A Growing Trend
Both the Labour Party and the PDP have faced a wave of defections to the APC in recent months.
- In July, Ezenwa Onyewuchi (Imo East Senatorial District) left the LP for APC.
- In October, Chris Nkwonta and Sulaiman Abubakar defected from the PDP to the APC.
