By Our Reporter
On Thursday, four members of the House of Representatives defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), while one lawmaker from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also joined the APC.
The defecting lawmakers are Rep Tochukwu Okere (Imo State), Rep Donatus Mathew (Kaduna State), Rep Bassey Akiba (Cross River State), and Rep Iyawu Esosa Edo (Delta State), who left the PDP to join the APC. Rep Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, also from Delta State, made the same move from the PDP to APC.
The defections were announced by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during plenary in the House.
In response, Minority Whip Ali Isah JC (PDP-Gombe) urged the Speaker to declare the seats of the defected lawmakers vacant, citing Section 68(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as amended).
However, Speaker Abbas pointed out that the lawmaker had failed to cite the full section required to justify the request to declare the seats vacant.