The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has threatened to take legal action against members, especially lawmakers who are defecting from the party to other political parties.

In a statement on Thursday, the party?s national publicity secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, said LP has opened a register for members of the House and other elected officials switch allegiance to other political parties in the name of defection.

His statement comes hours after four members of the LP lawmakers at the House of Representatives joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers are Tochukwu Chinedu Okere (Imo), Donatus Matthew (Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Cross River) and Esosa Iyawe (Edo).

Ifoh said, ?The party has also decided to open a ?Hall of Shame? register for these lawmakers or any elected official of the party who engages in fraudulent defection without first relinquishing the mandate obtained under the party?s ticket.

?These lawmakers will feature prominently in the register. We call on Nigerians to beware of this genre of politicians, who lack a clear democratic ideology and instead follow a ?Jumpology? mentality, hopping from one party to another in disregard of the enabling laws and without any ideological foundation.?

He, however, said that while the Labour Party remains undaunted by the defections, the leadership of the party has instructed its legal team to take action against the defectors.

According to Ifoh, a process of regaining the party?s mandates in line with the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act as amended will begin against the defectors.

He said: ?The Constitution states (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected;

?Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored;

?And to also commence the process of regaining our mandates in line with the 1999 constitution and 2022 Electoral Act as amended.

?The party will also approach the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the seats occupied by these former Labour Party members in line with the House Rules.

?It is inappropriate and unacceptable for the these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally.?

?Though, the Labour Party leadership is undaunted by the defection, it has however, elected not to allow it slide and has therefore instructed its legal team to commence the legal actions against the defectors.?

In July, Ezenwa Onyewuchi, a Labour Party Senator also defected to the APC.

Onyewuchi?s defection letter was read on the floor of the red chamber by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. (Daily Trust)

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