Lawmaker Etanabene Benedict has revealed that several members of the House of Representatives from the Labour Party (LP) are contemplating joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Etanabene, a member of the House representing the LP, made this statement following the recent defection of four of his party’s members in the legislature to the APC.
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“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.”
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) defected to the APC on Thursday, citing internal conflicts within the Labour Party (LP).
However, Etanabene has rejected their claims, asserting that there is no crisis within 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 lawmakers.
The opposition party announced that it would write to the leadership of the House, requesting the declaration of the defected lawmakers’ seats as vacant.
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