The Labour Party has announced plans to take legal action against four of its House of Representatives members who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defectors—Chinedu Okere, Mathew Donatus, Akiba Bassey, and Esosa Iyawe—were confirmed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday. Abbas attributed their defection to an “internal crisis” within the Labour Party.

However, the party’s spokesperson, Obiora Ifoh, refuted the claims, asserting that no one has the right to defect with the Labour Party’s mandate.

In a statement, Ifoh said:
“Though the Labour Party leadership is undaunted by the defection, it has elected not to let it slide. The party has instructed its legal team to commence legal actions against the defectors and to initiate the process of reclaiming our mandates in line with the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act as amended.

“There is absolute peace in the Labour Party. Therefore, no one elected on the ticket of the Labour Party has the constitutional protection to decamp from the party along with the party’s mandate.”

The Labour Party has vowed to pursue the matter legally to uphold the sanctity of its electoral mandates.