The Labor Party (LP) has said it is shameful that some members of the House of Representatives have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Naija News reports that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, read out the resignation letter of Tochukwu Okere from Owerri Federal Constituency of Imo State in the plenary session on Thursday. Donatus Mathew, Kaduna, Kaura Federal Constituency; Bassey Akiba, Calabar City/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Cross River.
Others include Iyawe Esosa of Edo Federal Constituency, Oredo Constituency, and Dauryeop Fomu of Barkin Ladi/Ryomu Constituency Plateau from Labor Party to APC.
Also, Senator Francis Ezenwa Onyewuchi, who represents Imo East Senatorial District in Imo State, defected from the LP to the APC.
In a statement on Thursday, the National Public Relations Secretary of the Julius Habre-led executive, Obiola Ifo, condemned the move by the lawmakers.
He accused the members of parliament of choosing to ignore the sacrifices they made to elect Nigerians in the 2023 elections.
Ifo said the MPs’ actions were irrational, untenable and contrary to democratic norms.
The following was written there: “The Labor Party leadership today received with displeasure the news of the defection of some members representing the party to the ruling APC in the National Assembly, including Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna). , Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), Daulyop Fom (Plateau) Their defection letter to the APC was read out by Chairman Tajudeen Abbas on the floor of the Green Chamber.
“For us, this defection is deeply regrettable and we condemn the behavior which is unreasonable, untenable, inconsistent and contrary to every known norm that democracy stands for.
“Article 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution highlights when to leave a party and what happens if a member supported by a political party decides to leave the party. A person who has been elected to the House of Representatives under the auspices of a member of the House of Representatives, and therefore becomes a member of another political party before the term of his/her election to the House of Representatives expires.
provided, however, that the membership of the latter political party is not the result of a split in a political party of which it was previously a member, or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions that were previously sponsored by one of them.
“Since Labor was formed in 2002, the party has been very active in politics, producing governors and several other elected officials in the past. However, Julius Achieved the greatest feat under the guidance of Barrister Habre In the 2023 general election, the party won governorship seats, eight Senate seats, 35 seats in the House of Representatives, and a large number of seats in state legislatures, even though the party caused a major upset in the presidential election. He still believed Labor had won.
“It was expected that the success achieved in that election would provoke some domestic pressure, which has since been addressed through domestic peace mechanisms and judicial means. Several other large political parties have now established their own Despite the political upheaval, the Labor Party has overcome all challenges and moved forward. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that there is absolute peace within the Labor Party. Elected individuals do not have constitutional protection to leave the party in line with the party’s mission.
“I would like to emphasize that in 2022 Recalling that the party leadership in 2017, in line with the party manifesto, opened the doors of the party to all Nigerians who wanted to become senior members of the leadership but were unable to do so due to the monetization policy of the party. Some of the octopus parties that existed at the time. The Labor Party thought it wise to reach the grassroots to serve the intended population, rather than being a monopoly of a wealthy few in urban areas. , also distributed free nomination forms to many people who could not afford the prohibitively low fees.
“Thousands of people, including Okada riders, bricklayers, young unemployed graduates, and artisans of all kinds, including palm kernel crushers in Enugu, will take advantage of the party’s platform to participate in the 2023 general elections. Many of them These deserters won not because of blood or economic power, but simply because of the tickets they ran and the millions they vowed to put an end to the “sense of entitlement” of a small cabal. This is due to the blessings of people. Nigerians shed tears and blood. They were committed to witnessing these changes and entrusted their future to the new MPs in the hope that they would represent them well, but they did not pay 160 million naira for the limousine and other Shortly after joining the conspiracy club, where the money allowance was in the hundreds of millions, they were easily derailed.
“It would be recalled that in 2022, the Kaduna State Labor Party Woman Leader, Victoria Chintex, was assassinated while campaigning for the party’s candidates in the state, including one of the Okada jockeys, Donatus Mathews. In his case, the entire North West region, including Donatus Mathews, who was eventually elected to the House of Commons. He said he was leaving the party because he was the only Labor member, not because the party was in crisis. Mr Matthews effectively spit on the grave of the late Mr Chantex and elected him to power. This is why the party, which arose out of its recent unfortunate activities, said that “no beauty is yet born.”
“In the case of Rep. Okere, Rep. Akiba, Rep. Esosa, Rep. Fomu, these are people whose party issues them sole tickets, provides them with campaign funds and bends over backwards to defend them in court. Administratively they were removed because they granted exemptions and spent property. Interestingly, these ungrateful people did not remember to send kobo to the party as check dues during the 18 months of legislative activity since its inception. There is no support for it. They have simply forgotten where they came from.
“Nevertheless, the Labor Party leadership, undaunted by defections, has chosen not to allow them to occur and has therefore tasked its legal team with initiating legal action against defectors and the process of regaining our mandate. The 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Elections Act have been amended.
“The party will also be lobbying the Speaker of the House of Commons to declare seats held by former Labor MPs vacant, in accordance with the rules of the House of Commons. It is inappropriate for these MPs to continue to represent their constituencies illegally. , unacceptable.
“The Party will also place on the ‘Hall of Shame’ register those Members, or members or elected officials of the Party, who have engaged in fraudulent defections without first withdrawing their mandates earned under the Party ticket. decided to open it.
“The following members are: 1. Senator Francis Ezenwa Onyuwa (Imo East), 2. Representative Bassey Akiba (Calabar City/Odukpani Federal Constituency), 3. Representative Tochukwu Okere (Owerri Federal Constituency), 4. Donatus. – Member of Parliament Matthew (Cowra Federal Constituency). ), 5. MP Iyawe Esosa (Oredo Federal Constituency) and Dauryeop Fomu (Plateau). These MPs feature prominently in the list.
“In that regard, we call on Nigerians to be wary of these genres of politicians who lack a clear democratic ideology or ethos, rather than a ‘jumpology’ ideology. , jump from one political party to the other without any ideological leanings. If we truly want this democracy to flourish, we must isolate these political merchants and opportunists, thumb their noses at them, and insult them for betraying the public’s trust and displaying a serious level of character flaw. And we must help dismantle their mercantilist political designs by rejecting them at future polls.
This article, LP accuses Tochukwu, Mathew, Akiba, Esosa, Fom of defecting to APC, was first published in Naija News.
