Hon. Benedict Etanabene, representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency in Delta State, has urged four lawmakers who recently left the Labour Party (LP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to step down from their National Assembly seats.

Etanabene emphasized that the law is clear: lawmakers cannot abandon the party that elected them unless there is a court-recognized division within the party. Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, he stated, “If there’s no division in the party at the national level, you cannot leave the party that brought you to office. The law is clear on this.”

The defectors, announced by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, include 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).

Etanabene criticized the defections, calling for the lawmakers to vacate their seats immediately, as required by law. He noted that the courts have affirmed Julius Abure’s leadership of the Labour Party, confirming there is no division within the party. “In a disciplined society, they should have left the Assembly as soon as the announcement was made,” he said.

The Labour Party has vowed to declare the seats vacant, but Etanabene expressed doubt that the House leadership would take such action. He stressed the need to legally challenge these defections to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and maintain accountability in the political system.

This issue highlights a recurring challenge in Nigerian politics: the tendency of elected officials to switch parties without legal justification, undermining voter trust and party discipline.