LP loses another Rep member to APC
Another member of the Labour Party (LP) in the House of Representatives, Sunday Umeha, has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Umeha, who is representing Ezeagu/Udi Federal Constituency of Enugu State, said the protracted crisis in LP propelled him to leave the party.
He said the party’s crisis had thrown up three factions, each of which has been claiming to have the legal grounds for the party’s leadership.
In his letter of defection read at plenary by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, the defecting lawmaker said Senator Nenadi Usman, Julius Abure, and Alhaji Lamidi Apapa have continued to lay claim to the leadership of the party, while most party members are confused about the authentic party leader.
Umeha said he resolved to join the APC and team up with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC leadership to provide effective leadership for the country and the Southeast.
But Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda said the constant defection of lawmakers was making a mockery of democracy in the country.
The lawmaker noted that the practice in Nigerian parliament appeared confusing.
He said the time had come to take another look at the constitutional provision on defection and amend it to safeguard democracy in the country. Chinda urged the Speaker to declare the seat of the defectors vacant.
He said a Supreme Court ruling had put an end to the leadership crisis in LP and that there was no basis for any defector to premise their action. The Minority Leader draw the attention of the House to its Standing Order, especially the aspect that deals with the leadership of House standing committees which stipulats that leadership of committees are appointed on party basis.
He said defectors should be made to vacate their leadership positions in committees while the parties that elected them to the House should be allowed to nominate a replacement for them.
