Defections from LP won’t stop, Obi may dump party too —Okupe

A former Director-General of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation and erswhile Labour Party’s chieftain, Dr Doyin Okupe, says the party’s inability to build an enduring structure after the 2023 elections is responsible for the gale of defections from the party.

Okupe made the statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos, on Sunday.

It would be recalled that six LP lawmakers recently dumped the party on the floor of the House of Representatives for  the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

The defectors include: Tochukwu Chinedu Okere (Imo), Donatus Matthew (Kaduna), Rep. Akiba Bassey (Cross River) and Esosa Iyawe (Edo).

Also, a number of ordinary members of the Labour Party have also dumped the party for the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lately.

Okupe noted the mass defections from LP were expected as elected members would not stay in a party where the future is not sure.

The former LP chieftain said those leaving the party knew they had to move for political relevance and survival.

“The Labour Party was one of those common parties that existed mainly for those who could not get tickets in the major parties to come and find expression.

“That is how we also got there. Our presence in the Labour Party then boosted the fortune of Labour Party.

“But what was important and which was essentially neglected by the leadership of the Labour Party and the presidential candidate was political structure

” So, those who are in the National Assembly (under LP platform) know that they are on their last card.

“Even if they cannot return, they need to use their opportunity right now to align with one or two of the major parties and become somebody.

“That is why you are seeing all this gale of deflections, and it’s not going to stop,” he said.

Okupe, a former presidential spokesman, said that lawmakers elected under the platform of the Labour Party knew that the situation that brought them would be different in 202.

He added: “Those who came on the of the popularity of the Obedient Movement know, for a fact, that they would not return because the circumstances are different.

“The situation has become different. What happened in the South West is not going to happen in 2027. I can assure you. It’s not going to happen.

“People want political success tomorrow but LP is not ready to build. They are not ready to build and  are not ready to invest in structures, so people will leave,” he said

According to him, it is also possible that Obi, the 2023 LP’s presidential candidate, dumps the party, considering his meetings with some opposition leaders recently.

“Obi was with Attiku Abubakar in Adamawa, recently. So, what does that tell you? That tells you that all options are open. The followers in the Labour Party are not blind,” he said.

READ ALSO: Confusion in LP as fresh defection looms