- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian lawmaker, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, has denounced her membership with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as she defects to the All Progressive Congress (APC) alongside four other lawmakers from Labour Party.
The daughter of former Delta state governor, James Ibori, and member of the House of Representatives had on Thursday tendered her resignation letter to the Chairman of Etihope West Local Government Area.
Erhiathake, who represents Ethiope East/ Ethiope West Federal Constituency at the Green Chamber, cited her exclusion by PDP Delta state chapter and the ongoing leadership crisis within the party as reasons behind decision.
In the same vein, Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), and Iyawe Esosa (Edo) all defected to the APC from Labour Party.
Notable among the Labour Party’s defectors is Donatus Matthew who won the parliamentary election in 2023 as a commercial motorcycle rider.
On reason behind his defection from the party, Matthew said his decision was based on conviction.
“You cannot just work on the decision of the people at the constituency level because you are dealing with people with different levels of understanding.
“I am taking this decision based on conviction. That is why whether you like it or not, there are people within the constituency who are convinced that it (defection) is the right decision for them. There are those who are skeptical waiting for the outcome,” he said.