The Labour Celebration, on Thursday, revealed that it might request the management of the Home of Representatives to declare vacant the seats of its former members who lately defected to the All Progressives Congress.
The opposition celebration additionally vowed to take authorized motion towards the defecting lawmakers and introduced that it had opened a register for members of the Home and different elected officers who shame the celebration by switching allegiance to different political platforms.
This was disclosed in an announcement issued in Abuja by the celebration’s Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh.
Ifoh’s issues adopted the defection of a number of LP lawmakers within the Home to the ruling APC, as their defection letters had been learn on the ground of the Inexperienced Chamber by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday.
The members of the Home who defected embody Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
Within the assertion, LP’s Nationwide Publicity Secretary stated, “The celebration has additionally determined to open a ‘Corridor of Disgrace’ register for these lawmakers or any elected official of the celebration who engages in fraudulent defection with out first relinquishing the mandate obtained underneath the celebration’s ticket.
“These lawmakers will function prominently within the register. We name on Nigerians to watch out for this style of politicians, who lack a transparent democratic ideology and as an alternative comply with a
‘Jumpology’ mentality, hopping from one celebration to a different in disregard of the enabling legal guidelines and with none ideological basis.
“Though the Labour Celebration management stays undaunted by the defections, it has determined to not let it go unchallenged. The celebration has instructed its authorized group to take motion towards the defectors and start the method of regaining our mandates in keeping with the 1999 Structure and the 2022 Electoral Act as amended.
“The celebration will even strategy the Speaker of the Home of Representatives to declare vacant the seats occupied by these former Labour Celebration members, in keeping with Home guidelines. It’s inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to proceed to perform as representatives of their constituencies illegally.”
The celebration famous that the defectors had “demonstrated a grave stage of character deficit by betraying public belief,” including that “if we would like this democracy to thrive, we should isolate these political retailers and opportunists, and assist bury their mercantilist political enterprises by snubbing, affronting, and rejecting them in future elections.”
The LP spokesman additional said that Part 68(g) of the 1999 Structure is evident on when a lawmaker can defect and the implications when a lawmaker, sponsored by a political celebration, decides to change allegiance.
He recalled that for the reason that formation of LP in 2002, the celebration had been lively on the political scene, having beforehand produced a governor and a number of other elected officers throughout varied ranges of authorities.