A member of the Enugu State House of Assembly representing the Igbo-Eze South Constituency, Mr. Harrison Ogara, has refuted the notion that the Labour Party (LP) is experiencing a leadership crisis. In response to six members of the LP house of assembly defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, Ogara announced this on Saturday in Enugu. The congressman emphasised that the accusation was “untrue and deceptive,” maintaining that there was no crisis inside the party to justify the defections to the PDP.
“They say Gov. Peter Mbah is performing, yes he is. But you can still be at your party and support him.
“For the past nine months, we have been working like a team, not minding the party we come from. I can support him from the Labour Party, which is what I am doing.
“It is like calling a dog a bad name just to hang it.
“The truth is that they wanted to leave for the PDP. They wanted to abandon the vehicle that brought them to the House of Assembly,” the lawmaker said.
Ogara insisted that although the defectors were entitled to join any political party they wanted, they shouldn’t do so by lying and using deceit. He said that LP will see to it that the legislators who have defected have their seats declared vacant.
“I believe that the Labour party will approach the court to declare the seats of the defectors vacant because section 51 of the 2022 Electoral Act provided that if you cross-carpet from your party to another as a legislator, you automatically lose your seat,” Ogara said.
He expressed sadness that the party’s supporters had abandoned the platform that helped them win election and said that the Labour Party would no longer provide tickets to those who were not devoted to the party.
