As plenary resumed at the House of Representatives on Thursday, five lawmakers of the Labour Party (LP) have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
They are Esosa Iyawe (Edo), Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Matthew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
Also, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu (Delta), a lawmaker and daughter of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC.
The now-former Labour Party lawmakers cited division within their party as the main reason for their defection.
After over 20 years of its formation, pro-workers political organisation, Labour Party (LP) made inroads into mainstream politics during the 2023 elections as the party got six Senate and over 34 House of Representatives seats.
Compared to its phenomenal stride in the 2023 elections, the LP did not get a single seat in the 2019 National Assembly elections.
With the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi coming third during the poll, many had thought that the Labour Party would form a formidable opposition alongside the PDP against the ruling APC but intra-party squabbles after the general elections have plagued the party.
