The leadership of the Labour Party said it had commenced the legal process to reclaim the seats of its four defected lawmakers who switched allegiance to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The opposition party insisted that it was inappropriate for the four Reps to keep holding on to the seats after becoming APC members.
The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, revealed this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH.
Ifoh’s clarification comes in the wake of Thursday’s defection by some LP lawmakers in the House of Representatives to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Their letters of defection to the APC were read on the floor of the Green Chamber by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The defected LP Reps members are Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo) and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
Ifoh condemned the defection, which he described as ‘unfortunate, irrational, and inconsistent with the norms of democracy.
The LP spokesman further stated that Section 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution was emphatic on when to defect and what happens when a lawmaker sponsored by a political party decides to jump ship.
He said, “We said we were going to do three things. Number one, we condemned the defection. We said the party would open a register of shame and that we were going to write a letter to the Speaker to declare their seats vacant.
“According to the constitution, it’s only the Speaker of the House who can declare their seats vacant. But the manner in which the Speaker applauded the defected members, it is obvious he will certainly not do it.
“So, we will take the next step by going to the court to get the order. Already, we are in court in addition to one or two instances related to that. Our legal department has been asked to proceed to file the matter.”
Ifoh also vowed that the party would make public the identity of its defected public office holders, rebels and troublemakers in its ‘Hall of Shame’ register on Monday.
According to him, the register was specifically opened for elected officeholders, including the four members of the House of Representatives, who he said disgraced the party by switching allegiance to other political platforms.
“Let me tell you that significantly by tomorrow, Monday, we are going to publish the register of the hall of shame. We will make it available and publish it in the media generally.
“This will be done for people to know that it is wrong to take a party’s mandate to another party without doing what Section 68, Subsection 1(g) says concerning defection, especially when the party is not in crisis.
“But when leaving, you are supposed to drop the mandate. So, the register will be published tomorrow. On Monday, you will see it,” he assured.
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