The House of Representatives was thrown into disarray on Thursday following the defection of Ajang Iliya, a lawmaker representing Jos South/Jos East federal constituency of Plateau State, from the Labour Party (LP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defection was announced by Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House, who read Iliya’s letter during plenary. In his letter, Iliya attributed his decision to the leadership crisis within the Labour Party.
Despite a court ruling recognizing Julius Abure as the LP’s national chairman, a faction led by Nenadi Usman continues to claim control of the party. Iliya also stated his intention to align with the developmental policies of President Bola Tinubu, adding that it had become challenging to reconcile with the LP’s stance on various national issues.
“It is difficult to align with LP’s position on current issues,” the letter read.
The defection sparked outrage among opposition lawmakers. Kingsley Chinda, the Minority Leader, argued that Iliya had not fulfilled the constitutional requirements to defect, noting that the lawmaker must officially join the APC at the ward level in Plateau State before formalizing his move.
The incident comes barely a week after four other Labour Party lawmakers defected to the APC. These lawmakers are Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West federal constituency of Imo State), Mathew Donatus (Kaura federal constituency of Kaduna State), Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani federal constituency of Cross River State), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo federal constituency of Edo State).
The defectors similarly cited the internal crisis within the Labour Party as their reason for switching allegiance.
