LP want court to declare defecting lawmakers’ seats vacant

• Uproar in House as fifth LP Rep dumps party
• Ex-Bayelsa governorship candidate, running mate, others resign

The Labour Party (LP) has expressed anger over the gale of defections that has befallen the party and took action against the defectors.

In a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, LP announced that it had filed a suit in an unnamed court to compel the National Assembly leadership to declare vacant the seats of its members that have defected.

The LP statement followed the defection of the House of Representatives member representing Jos South/Jos East, Alfred Ajang Illiya, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

This brings the number of LP House of Representatives members who have joined the APC to five.

The statement reads: “The leadership of the Labour Party again received with dismay news of the betrayal of the people of Jos South/Jos East by Mr. Ajang Illiya, a man whom the Labour Party and the people of Plateau State entrusted with their collective hopes and aspirations for a just and equitable society through legislation.

“Illiya, who just engraved his name on the Labour Party ‘Hall of Shame’ Register, has brought dishonour to himself through this action.

“While it is true that the constitution guarantees citizens the right to freedom of association, the constitution qualifies such rights regarding the membership of political parties.

“The law does not protect an individual who steals the mandate of a people and a political party to run into another without first surrendering the mandate he deceitfully acquired.

“This defection, like similar ones before it, is quite unfortunate and condemnable. Section 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution is emphatic on when to defect and what happens when a lawmaker sponsored by a political party decides to jump ship.

“It is unnecessary probing why most of the defectors chose the All Progressives Congress (APC) as their destination point and why House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has refused to respect the provisions of the constitution by declaring their seats vacant.

“However, those politicians who have chosen to abandon the people at this crucial time in their lives are the ones who deserve pity because they have exposed themselves as unworthy of our collective trust going forward.

“Meanwhile, the party has since filed actions in the court to compel the National Assembly leadership to declare the seats of the defected Labour Party lawmakers vacant. The suit also seeks that every salary, emolument or privileges received, from the date of defection, be returned.”

Illiya’s defection elicited uproar in the Green Chamber yesterday as opposition lawmakers protested his defection and requested that his seat be declared vacant.

Former Plateau State governor, Senator Simon Lalong, witnessed Illiya’s defection to the APC.

In his letter of defection read at plenary by Speaker Abbas, the lawmaker said the crisis in the LP and the need to align with the policies and developmental initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration propelled him to dump the LP.

The lawmaker said he would be able to offer more effective representation to his constituency within the APC, among other reasons.

Though Deputy Minority Whip George Ozodinobi did not oppose the defection, he insisted that there was no crisis in the LP.

He said: “I want to wish all those defecting and those who may wish to do so and believe that the APC is their best destination good luck. We will be waiting to meet them again in 2027, if they will be here. The end will justify the means.