The lawmaker representing the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Ajang Iliya, who was a member of the Labour Party (LP), on Thursday dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The defection comes barely a week after the LP lost five of its members in the House to the APC.
The House Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas at the plenary announced Iliya’s defection.
Reading the letter of defection to the APC, Abbas cited “the crisis in the leadership of the Labour Party,” and other related issues as reasons for the development.
Iliya further stated in his letter that he “finds it difficult to align with LP’s position on current issues.”
In a related development, the LP also suffered a significant setback as its governorship candidate for the last Bayelsa State election, Udengs Eradiri, along with his running mate, retired Commodore Benjamin Nathus, announced their resignation from the party.
According to reports from The Nation, several local government chairmen of the Labour Party in Bayelsa also followed suit, aligning with Eradiri and Nathus in their decision to leave the party.
In a formal resignation letter dated December 8, 2024, and addressed to the state chairman of the party in Yenagoa, Eradiri explained that his decision was driven by the need to continue his political career on a platform better equipped to provide the kind of leadership Bayelsa requires.