In a shocking move, four members of the House of Representatives have abandoned the Labour Party (LP) to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The defection was announced by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas on the floor of the House on Thursday.
The lawmakers who made the switch 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). They cited an alleged crisis within the LP as the reason for their defection.
Abbas welcomed the lawmakers to the APC, congratulating them on making what he termed “the right decision.”
Speaker Abbas welcomed the lawmakers to the APC, congratulating them on making what he termed “the right decision.” However, not everyone was pleased with the development. Ali Isa, minority whip, and George Ozodinobi, deputy minority whip, protested the defections, with Ozodinobi accusing his former colleagues of lacking ideology.
Ozodinobi also criticized the APC, saying the party has “brought hunger to Nigerians” and that lawmakers should not be joining the party. The LP and PDP have lost several legislators to the APC in recent weeks, including Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who defected from LP to APC in July, and Chris Nkwonta and Sulaiman Abubakar, who left the PDP for APC in October.
Erhriatake Ibori-Suenu, representing Ethiope federal constituency of Delta, also defected
In a related development, Erhriatake Ibori-Suenu, representing Ethiope federal constituency of Delta, also defected from the PDP to the APC. Ibori-Suenu is the daughter of James Ibori, former Delta governor and chieftain of the PDP.
