By Kolawole Ojebisi
The internal disagreements within the Labour Party(LP) have escalated following moves by the party to declare vacant the seats of lawmakers who recently defected from the LP to the ruling All Ptogressives Congress(APC).
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Obiora Ifoh, who confirmed the move on Thursday, said the party had filed legal proceedings against the defected lawmakers to declare their seats vacant and ensure they refund all the salaries and allowances they have received to date.
Obiora revealed this in a statement issued in Abuja stressing that the decision was taken by the leadership of the party.
He noted that the action became necessary following the defections of lawmakers elected on the platform of the party.
Obiora who was visibly angry made the statement hours after the member representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency, Plateau State, Ajang Iliya, announced his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Iliya’s defection to the ruling party brings to six the number of lawmakers lost by the LP to the APC.
The other five Reps members are Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo) and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
In his letter of defection read on the floor by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, Iliya said he was defecting given the crisis in the Labour Party and the need to align with the policies and developmental initiative of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
He added that his defection would allow him to represent his constituency better, in the area of good governance and service delivery.
But Ifoh insisted that the defecting lawmakers were birds of a feather who had long perfected their plan to run away with the people’s mandates.
He said, “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.
“It is unnecessary to probe why most of the defectors chose the All Progressives Congress as their destination point and why the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abass, has refused to respect the provisions of the constitution by declaring their seats vacant.
“Meanwhile, the party has since filled 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.”
The New Diplomat had reported how Iliya’s defection caused a rowdy plenary on Thursday on the floor of the Green Chamber.
Lawmakers went into a heated debated after the Speaker read Iliya’s letter, defecting from the LP to the APC.
The Minority Leader, Kingsley China, called on the Speaker to reject Iliya’s defection letter, contending that the lawmaker had not fulfilled the required constitutional provision.
