Defection Of LP Lawmakers: Party Heads To Court To Declare Seats Vacant, As Ogara Says Only Committed Members Will Get Tickets In 2027

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Come the 2027 General Elections, the Labour Party, LP, will only lend its platform to committed political actors.

In the days ahead, however, the Party will be approaching the Courts to seek the declaration of the  seats  of the defected members  of the Enugu State House of Assembly  vacant .

This much was made known on Saturday, March 30, 2024, by Hon Harrison Ogara, one of the LP members still flying the party’s flag at the State’s legislative chamber.

The member representing Igbo-Eze South State constituency who spoke against the backdrop of the defection of six of his former LP colleagues to the People Democratic Party PDP on Thursday, March 28, insisted that there is no crisis in the party as being claimed by the defectors.

According to him, the claim of crisis in the LP by his erstwhile party colleagues, is not only false, but also deceptive, as well as akin to” giving a dog a bad name to hang it”

Hon Ogara maintained the defected LP members were only goaded by some personal political interests ,which include, but not limited to  their desire to support the state Governor, Peter Mbah.

“The truth is that they wanted to join the PDP.They wanted to abandon the vehicle that brought them to the House of Assembly.

They say that Governor Mba is performing . But you can still be in your party and still support him. For the past nine months ,we all have been working like a team not minding the party we come from.

I can support him from the Labour Party ,which is what I am doing.” Hon Ogara noted.

The Enugu State Lawmaker, said much as the defected members have the right to join ranks with any party of their choice, the LP, as a registered political party on which platform they rode to the House ,also reserves the right under existing extant laws to retrieve its mandate from them in the present circumstances.

” I believe that the Labour Party will approach the courts to declare the seats of the defectors vacant because section 51 of the 2022 electoral act provides that if you cross- carpet from your party to another as a legislator ,you automatically lose your seat ” Hon .Ogara stated .