Labour Party loses majority in Enugu House of Assembly

Labour Party loses majority in Enugu State House of Assembly following two court-ordered election reversals and six recent defections.

In a dramatic change of fortune, the ruling PDP went from 10 to 18 members, an absolute two-third majority.

The journey to Labour demolition in the House began in November 2023 when, in two separate judgments, the Appeal Court dismissed two elected Labour legislators. It was completed Thursday last week after six Labour legislators defected to the ruling PDP, citing legal troubles at their national secretariat.

Court Reversals

In the 18 March 2023 elections, Ezeagu voters chose Chukwudi Udefuna over their two-term legislator, Chima Obieze. An appeal court panel however sacked Udefuna for not showing that he could read and write. Although the election tribunal took the position that Udefuna, the voters’ choice, had sufficient education, Obieze argued that presenting a primary school certificate was not sufficient to qualify him. The appeal court agreed and he took back the seat by default.

Ezeagu

Udenu

A similar scenario played out at Udenu Constituency where ex-Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s henchman, Chief Solomon Onah, was defeated by a staff of the nearby University of Nigeria, Obinna Anthony Ijere. The court of appeal held that Ijere did not properly resign from the university to contest and therefore annulled his election.

Labour loses House majority

Last Thursday, 28 March, six Labour legislators defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the floor of the Assembly. 

The defectors are Ejike Eze (Chief Whip, Igboeze North I), Johnson Ugwu (House Leader, Enugu North), and Princess Ugwu (Enugu South Rural).

Others are the members representing Nsukka East (Onyekachi Ezugwu), Igbo-Etiti West (Williams T. Amuka) and Oji River (Osita Eze).

The 24-seat parliament was hitherto evenly distributed at 12 legislators apiece between the ruling PDP and the opposition LP. 

The defectors cited “irreconcilable division” and “incessant crisis” at national and state chapters as justification for their action.

In their joint statement, they wrote:

“Regrettably, the party has evolved into a state of perpetual discord with various factions embroiled in legal battles thereby undermining its ability to effectively serve the interest of the people.

“The Labour party, once a beacon of hope for progressive ideas, have (sic) regrettably become synonymous with internal squabbles, thereby reducing its capacity to fulfill the aspirations of electorates (sic).”

They hoped that the PDP would promote their interest to serve their constituents and thanked the Labour Party for helping them to win the 2023 election.