Defected LP Reps evading court papers, taking advantage of a broken judicial system
Six members of the Labour Party (LP) in the House of Representatives who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are evading the service of court papers to frustrate the suit seeking to declare their seats vacant, the party has said.
Both LP National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh National Youth Leader Kennedy Ahanotu explained that legal battle aims to recover the seats of the six Reps and secure the refund of all salaries and allowances they have received as lawmakers.
Ajang Iliya (representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in Plateau), in December 2024 announced his defection to the APC, following in the footsteps of Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo), and Daulyop Fom (Plateau).
Iliya cited as reasons for his defection, the crisis in the LP and the need to align with the policies and developmental initiatives of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The LP leadership has dismissed the defectors as insignificant “paper-weight politicians” who would not be missed by party supporters.
In the latest reaction, Ifoh expressed frustration over the evasive actions of the lawmakers, saying that after multiple failed attempts to serve court documents, the party would have no choice but to hand over the matter to the Clerk of the National Assembly (NASS) and publish the names of the defectors in national newspapers.
“But you know LP has taken one of our Ondo lawmakers to court in the past and he lost his seat. At that time, it was easy to get judgment. They are just going to the APC to waste their time as over half of them will not get return tickets,” Ifoh told The PUNCH.
“The remaining ones that get [tickets] will lose the election. Those [of them] who may make it back to the National Assembly wouldn’t be more than 2 per cent.
“We are also ready to receive them back should they make an attempt to return. In politics, you don’t close your door, but it will be on our terms and conditions.”
Ahanotu echoed these concerns, lamenting that the process is being prolonged and noted that Nigeria’s judicial system often prevents swift justice.
He said: “These people are running away from being served and it’s prolonging the process. There is always a window for the process to take its full place whether you want it or not. But I think our National Legal Adviser (Kehinde Edun) is on top of the matter.
“We hope that at the end of the day, justice will be served. It is unfortunate that Nigeria has become a place where joining the ruling party makes some politicians untouchable.
“It is unfortunate that the people who protested injustice about 20-30 years ago are the same people who now oppress and deny the masses justice now that they are in power.
“As a party, we are worried that the justice system may not quickly resolve the issue. And some of these lawmakers don’t even care because they feel they will serve out their tenure before justice will be served. It’s a very frustrating thing.
“If it were to be where the justice system is working efficiently and fast, the issue of deciding defection shouldn’t take more than two to three months so that there will be a rerun for another person to represent the party and his people.”
– The PUNCH.
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