The Labour Party has reacted to reports that Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State is planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to LP, Otti will not defect.
Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of Labour Party said this in an interview on Friday in Abuja.
He was reacting to rumours that five first term opposition governors have perfected plans to defect to APC, preparatory to the 2027 general elections.
A recent media report had indicated that the body language of some governors, particularly from PDP was tilting toward moving to the ruling APC.
The report further indicated that some of the governor have either been visiting President Bola Tinubu privately or have him inaugurating projects in their states.
It was also reported that the Chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum, Sen. Hope Uzodimma of Imo, had been wooing the opposition governors to join APC
Otti, the only governor elected on the platform of Labour Party was one of the five state chief executives speculated to be plannings to dump his party to join the APC.
The others are Enugu, Peter Mba, Enugu; Sheriff Oborevwori, Delta; Siminalayi Fubara, Rivers and Umoh Eno, Akwa Ibom who were all elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Labour Party and PDP are currently locked in post-2023 election crises.
But Ifoh, dismissed speculations Otti is planning to dump LP for APC.
“It is a mere rumour and I hope it remains so. For us in Labour Party, we are in touch with our governor, Dr Alex Otti, and he has assured us that he is not going anywhere, ahead of 2027.
“We believe that he will stay with us, irrespective of some of the issues which we are working hard to resolve,” he said.
The national publicity secretary, who said that defection from one political party to another was nothing new in any democratic setting, however, said that Otti was not thinking about teaming up with the ruling APC.
“The courts have come up several times to make interpretation as regards Section 84 of the 1999 Constitution and many people who had defected at one time or the other had been challenged in court.
“So, if five governors are planning to defect, it won’t be a new thing, as it had happened in the past,” he said.
Ifoh attributed the rumoured defection to the fact that some governors in the opposition had been having some challenges in controlling their states.
He insisted that the speculated rumour of the only Labour Party governor had no substance or validity.
“We are good in Labour Party and our governor is with us, and we are hoping that by 2027, we will have more governors in our fold,” he said.
