23 LP lawmakers defect to PDP in Ondo

23 LP lawmakers defect to PDP in Ondo

Twenty-three members of the Ondo State House of Assembly on Wednesday formally parted ways with the Labour Party and moved to the Peoples Democratic Party.

This is in line with the earlier defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who had announced that members of the Ondo State House of Assembly were defecting along with him to the PDP.
However, the lawmaker representing Ilaje Constituency 1, Mr. Gbenga Edema, who was elected on the platform of the PDP but defected to the LP, did not return to the PDP, saying that he was still consulting with his people on the matter.
The members, in a letter read on the floor of the House, said they decided to leave the LP after a meeting with relevant stakeholders in their areas.
According to the letter addressed to the Speaker and signed by the 23 members of the House, the lawmakers said they were no more comfortable with the developments in the LP.
The letter read, “We, the under-listed honourable members, having met with relevant stakeholders in our various constituencies, have decided to defect from Labour Party to Peoples Democratic Party.
“This is because we are not very comfortable with the legion of litigations pending before various courts across the nation at the instance of members of the Labour Party which is already igniting crisis in the party. As a matter of fact, the Labour Party is already factionalised and totally polarised because of the aforementioned reasons.
“Consequently, we prefer to key into the Transformation Agenda of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. This, we believe, will definitely be to the betterment of our various constituencies.”
Speaking on the development, the Speaker, Jumoke Akindele, said by leaving the LP, the members would naturally turn to the PDP since that was where they once belonged.
She said the LP was like a “small pot with many spoons”, saying that with the movement to the PDP, the members now had a wider platform to operate.
On the only member that had yet to join the PDP, Akindele said the lawmaker told the House that he was still consulting with the stakeholders in his area.
She added that his failure to sign the letter of intent on the defection did not mean he was against the move, explaining that members of the House were united on the move.