From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
One of the major surprises in the 2023 general elections was the performance of the Labour Party (LP) in the National Assembly election. The LP, which was registered in 2002 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been a marginal player in the polity, until the general election, where it caused an upset in Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The LP pushed itself to the front row of Nigeria’s politics, after it won a total of 35 seats in the House of Representatives, to emerge the second largest opposition party, after the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).
Interestingly, many of the lawmakers, elected into the House on the platform of the LP, were obscure politicians, who latched on to the popularity of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to secure victory at the poll. Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, and erstwhile leader of the PDP had joined LP, ahead of the 2023 polls to actualize his presidential aspirations.
The former governor was to become a rallying point for several Nigerians, desirous of change in the political order in the country, at the last general election. Consequently, many Nigerians, who bought into the former governor’s message had cast their lot with the LP National Assembly candidates, so that Obi could have his party men in the parliament, should he win the presidential poll.
Thus, the LP, ended up as the third dominant party in the country, in the aftermath of the 2023 polls. While the opposition party savoured its status as the third largest party in the parliament, not a few had expressed concern whether the lawmakers would keep faith with the opposition party.
The concerns were understandable. Cross-carpeting has become a regular feature of the National Assembly over the years. For instance, no fewer than 27 members of the opposition defected from their parties to the APC in the 9th assembly.
Also, previous assemblies had also witnessed the defections of opposition lawmakers to the ruling party. In the seventh House, under Aminu Tambuwal as speaker, 37 members defected from the PDP to the APC, and automatically turning the PDP into a minority party in the Green Chamber.
Similarly, four years after 37 members of the APC in the House dumped the opposition party, with 32 of them moving into PDP. Ironically, after the usual protestations and threat of court action that normally trail defections, nothing happens, in most cases.
Regardless, the LP House caucus leader, Afam Ogene, in an interview, last year, had warned that there would be consequences for any member, who would want to dump the opposition party. Ogene had stated that lawmakers elected on the platform of the party contemplating defection should be ready to surrender the mandate given to him or her on the platform of the opposition party.
“Don’t forget that when you cross carpet, it is a decided issue from the Supreme Court of Nigeria, that when you leave your party, you lose your seat. And some people in this republic, have lost their seats prior to now. So, anybody, who is contemplating that, should be put on notice that as a party, we will demand for our seat, “ he had stated.
Nevertheless, the fortunes of the opposition party are beginning to dwindle in the parliament. In the last two weeks, six lawmakers, elected on the platform of the opposition party have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
On December 5, four of the LP lawmakers namely Tochukwu Okere(Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River) and Iyawe Esosa (Edo) announced their defection to the ruling party. Apart from the LP members, a PDP member representing Ethiope Federal Constituency, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, also dumped the opposition for the APC.
The defecting members, in their different letters, which was read by the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, at the plenary, said their actions were motivated by alleged division in the political parties’ platform on which they were elected into the parliament.
Expectedly, the leadership of the minority caucus kicked. The minority whip, Ali Isa, while citing Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), said the action of defecting members constitute a violation of the Constitution. Consequently, he demanded for their seats to be declared vacant.
Section 68 of the Constitution prescribes the condition for members of the legislature to cross-carpet from the political party, on whose platform they were elected into the parliament.
According to Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended) “:a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by one political party, he becomes a member of any other political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored …”
Similarly, the deputy minority whip, George Ozodinobi, who represents Anaocha Federal Constituency of Anambra State, on the LP platform, dismissed the claims of his former members that there is crisis in the opposition party.
“I want to say that my party is not in any crisis. My party remains one. When people enter political parties without ideology, we see such defections.
I stand to tell them that this rotten carrot that is dangled before them to defect, to this party that has brought hunger to this country; we are waiting as the party of the people, “ Ozodinobi said.
The LP, incensed by the action of its erstwhile members, threatened to shame them as well as take steps to get them to vacate their seats in the Green Chamber.
The LP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, said though it is undaunted by the defection, it will take steps to retrieve its mandate from the lawmakers, in line with extant laws.
“Though the Labour Party leadership is undaunted by the defection, it has however, elected not to allow it slide by instructing its legal team to take legal actions against the defectors and also commence the process of regaining our mandates in line with the 1999 constitution and 2022 Electoral Act as amended.
“The party will also approach the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the seats occupied by these former Labour Party members in line with the House Rules. It is inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally.”
The threat of legal action, notwithstanding, defections from the LP to the APC continued on the floor of the House, on December 10 as another member of the opposition party, Dalyop Chollom from Plateau State, cross-carpeted to the ruling party.
Two days later, another LP lawmaker, Ajang Alfred, also of Plateau jumped ship, sparkling a commotion on the floor of the House as the opposition vehemently protested his defection.
The minority leader, Kingsley Chinda, while reacting to the latest defection, insisted that the action was a violation of Section 68(1) (g) of the Constitution (as amended).
“I will want to pray again, let it be on record that we are putting the cart before the Horse. The condition has not been fulfilled, for us to even accept the letter that you read. I will therefore pray this House to reject this letter and advice our colleagues to take appropriate step.
“We believe that constitution gives you a right of association. However, you must be prepared to follow the procedure and also bear the consequence of your choice. I pray that you ignore the latter in its totality, “ Chinda told the House.
The question, however, is what does the future hold for the LP in the House, and the polity generally, ahead of the 2027 polls? This is especially as there are indications that the caucus might be further depleted, as more members, it was gathered, are currently perfecting plans to move to the APC in days ahead.
Recall that in the 2019 polls, minor opposition parties, including the Action Alliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Action Democratic Party (PDP) combined, produced 22 members in the Green chamber. However, a total 13 of the members eventually defected to the APC. While the opposition cried foul, the defectors kept their seat in the parliament.
Nevertheless, Ifoh, while decrying the effect of the defections on the country’s democracy told Daily Sun that it will not be business as usual. According to him, the LP will stop at nothing to ensure that defectors lose their seats in the parliament.
According to him, “as it is, there is no crisis in Labour Party. The Constitution is very clear. Section 68(1) (g )is very clear that the moment you defect from your political party to another one, that you lose your seat. They are going to resign. If they don’t, we have already gone to court. We have taken them to Court.
“And as they are defecting, because we believe that there are going to be more defections, we don’t have control over that. They have forgotten that their names were not on the ballot paper, it was the name of the political party that was on the ballot paper.’
All eyes are on the LP to see if it will walk the talk in the threat to retrieve its mandate from its erstwhile members.
Pundits say the survival of the LP caucus in the 10th House will depend largely on how the opposition party handles the present situation.
