JUST IN: Four LP lawmakers defect to APC

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen announced the defections on Thursday after reading letters from the lawmakers.

Four members of the Labour Party Caucus in the House of Representatives have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

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

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen announced the defections on Thursday after reading letters from the lawmakers.

The Labour Party became Nigeria’s third largest party last year following its impressive performance in the general elections. The party also won dozens of seats in the federal legislature and many seats in state assemblies. It also won the governorship election in Abia State. The party’s performance was largely driven by the popularity of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who came third in the presidential election but won in as many states as the eventual winner, President Bola Tinubu.
Details later…