Several LP Reps Considering Defection To APC, Says Lawmaker
Etanabene, a member of the House of Representatives under the LP, said this in the wake of the defection of four members of the lawmaking body – from his party – to the APC.
A lawmaker Etanabene Benedict says many members of the House of Representatives under the Labour Party (LP) are considering pitching tenth with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Etanabene, a member of the House of Representatives under the LP, said this in the wake of the defection of four members of the lawmaking body – from his party – to the APC.
“Nobody believes that if you are elected to office, there is a time limit, and when that time comes, if the people want you again, you’re reelected; if they don’t want you, you go,” the lawmaker representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency in Delta State said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“It is about 2027. The trend of Edo and Ondo is frightening to them, and they do not believe that they are strategically positioned to seek reelection under the umbrella of the Labour Party. That is the main reason.
“There are still many others in the Labour Party that are thinking along that line too. So, if it happens tomorrow, I won’t be surprised.”
The lawmakers Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Constituency), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo) teamed up with the APC on Thursday, citing internal conflict in the Labour Party (LP).
But Etanabene has dismissed their claims, arguing that there is no crisis in the LP.
“There is no leadership crisis in the Labour Party,” he said. “If it is about those issues, I can tell you that the larger number of those who just left are people that believe in the leadership of Julius Abure.
“It is not only Labour Party. I am expecting the trend from other opposition parties,” the lawmaker added.
Following their defection, the LP has threatened legal action against the lawmaker.
LP – one of the opposition parties in the country – said it was going to write the leadership of the House to declare the defected lawmakers’ seat vacant.
