Opposition protests as another LP rep defects to APC

There was an uproar at the house of representatives on Thursday after Ajang Iliya, a Plateau lawmaker, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Labour Party (LP).

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, read the defection letter of Illiya who represents Jos south/Jos east federal constituency on the floor of the green chamber.

The Plateau rep cited the leadership crisis in the LP as the reason he left the party.

Though a court has since recognised Julius Abure as the chair of the LP, a caretaker committee led by Nenadi Usman has claimed to be in charge of the party.

Illiya said there is a need to also align with the developmental policies of President Bola Tinubu.

“It is difficult to align with LP’s position on current issues,” his letter read.

But some opposition lawmakers expressed dismay over the development.

Kingsley Chinda, minority leader of the house, said the defection should be rejected because the lawmaker had not met constitutional requirements to defect to the APC.

Chinda said Illiya needed to join the APC at his ward in Plateau first.

The development came about a week after four LP reps defected to the APC.

The lawmakers were Chinedu Okere (Owerri municipal/Owerri north/Owerri west federal constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura federal constituency of Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar municipal/Odukpani federal constituency of Cross River), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo federal constituency of Edo).

The lawmakers attributed their defection to an alleged crisis in the LP.