The Labour Party has gone to court over the defection of six members of the House of Representatives from the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akangbe Illiya who represents Jos South/Jos East of Plateau State teamed up with the APC on Thursday, adding to the swelling number of House of Representatives members who were elected under the LP leaving the party.
The LP in a statement by its spokesman Obiorah Ifo described Illiya’s defection to the APC as “quite unfortunate and condemnable”.
While admitting that the “Constitution guarantees citizens the right to freedom of association,” the party said Section 68(g) of the 1999 Constitution “is emphatic on when to defect and what happens when a lawmaker sponsored by a political party decides to jump ship”.
Obiorah said “the party has since filed 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 privilege received, from the date of defection, be returned”.
The party said it “is unnecessary to probe why most of the defectors chose the All Progressives Congress (APC) 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.
“However, those politicians who have chosen to abandon the people at this crucial time in their lives are the ones who deserve pity because they have exposed themselves as unworthy of our collective trust going forward”.
Six members of the House of Representatives have left the LP for the APC in about two weeks, citing a leadership crisis in one of Nigeria’s main opposition parties.
Following the defection, the party said it was going to take legal action against the lawmakers.