LP Criticizes Tochukwu, Mathew, Akiba, Esosa, fom for joining APC

Some members of the Labour Party (LP) defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives, which the LP has called shameful.
According to reports, during Thursday’s plenary, Speaker of the House Tajudeen Abbas read the defection letters of Bassey Akiba of Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Cross River; Donatus Mathew of Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna; and Tochukwu Okere of Owerri Federal Constituency, Imo.

Other people that switched from the Labour Party to the APC include Iyawe Esosa, Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo and Daulyop Fom, and Barkin Ladi/Riyom Constituency Plateau.
Additionally, Senator Francis Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who represented Imo State’s Imo East Senatorial District, switched from the LP to the APC.

Obiorah Ifo, the national publicity secretary for the Julius Abure-led administration, denounced the MPs’ action in a statement on Thursday.

He criticized the parliamentarians for electing them despite the sacrifices made by Nigerians in the 2023 election.

Ifo said that the parliamentarians’ actions were unreasonable, unworkable, and against democratic standards.

It stated: “The news of several Labour Party lawmakers defecting to the ruling APC today has been received with dissatisfaction by the party’s leadership in the National Assembly. Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), and Daulyop Fom (Plateau) are among the members of the Representatives. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas read their letter of defection to the APC on the floor of the Green Chamber.

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“We find the defection to be very regrettable, and we denounce the behavior, which is unreasonable, unsustainable, contradictory, and incompatible with all accepted standards that democracy upholds.”When a lawmaker sponsored by a political party decides to defect, the 1999 constitution’s Section 68(g) makes it clear what occurs. According to the Constitution, if an individual who was elected to the House by a political party joins another party before the time frame for which the House was elected has passed,

As long as his affiliation with the latter political party isn’t the consequence of a split within the party he was formerly a part of or a combination of two or more political parties or factions, one of which may have previously sponsored him;

The Labour Party has been quite active in politics since its founding in 2002, having previously produced a governor and a number of other elected officials from other fields. However, under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure, it accomplished its greatest accomplishment in the general election of 2023, winning a seat as governor, eight Senate seats, thirty-five House of Representatives seats, and multiple state House of Assembly seats. Additionally, the party caused a significant upset in the presidential election, which many Nigerians still thought was won by the Labour Party.

“As was to be expected, the election’s successes created certain internal pressure points that have since been resolved through judicial and internal peace mechanisms. The Labour Party has subsequently moved on after resolving all of its issues, whereas several other major parties are currently adrift in their own political storm. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the Labour Party is at peace. As a result, no one elected on the Labour Party ticket has the constitutional right to leave the party and the party’s mandate.

For emphasis, it should be noted that the party’s leadership in 2022, in accordance with the party’s manifesto, opened the party to all Nigerians who wanted to join the leadership cadre but were unable to do so due to the monetization practices of some of the octopus parties that were then in power. Instead of limiting power to the wealthy and urbane elite, the Labour Party believed it was prudent to spread power to the grassroots level in order to benefit the target populace. The Labour Party sent free nomination forms and membership cards to as many people as possible who couldn’t afford the absurdly cheap fees.