5th December 2024
Thursday, November 5, 2024 was not the best of days for the Labour Party, LP, in Nigeria, as it caucus in the House of Representatives lost four of its members to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
The defected members are Iyawe Esosa (Edo), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Tochukwu Okere (Imo) and Donatus Mathew (Kaduna).
The daughter of former Delta State Governor, Mr James Ibori and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, also left her party, PDP and joined the APC.
Reacting to the development, LP Donatus Matthew, who represents Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, said the decision to defect to the APC is based on conviction.
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On whether he had the backing of his Constituency, Matthew who made history when he won the parliamentary election in 2023 as a commercial motorcycle rider said, “You cannot just work on the decision of the people at the constituency level because you are dealing with people with different levels of understanding.
“I am taking this decision based on conviction. That is why whether you like it or not, there are people within the constituency who are convinced that the action is the right decision for them. There are those who are skeptical waiting for the outcome.”
Speaker of the house, Tajudeen Abbas read their letters of defection to the APC on the floor of the Green Chamber.
