The Labour Party (LP) on Sunday said its elected federal lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives did not betray the party by voting for the anointed candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last week’s election of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
In the Senate, the LP lawmakers voted for Senator Godswill Akpabio who emerged as Senate President while their colleagues in the House of Representatives also voted for Tajudeen Abass who was elected Speaker.
Speaking in an interview on whether the party felt betrayed the action of the lawmakers, Chief Spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (LP-PCC), Dr Yunusa Tanko said the party was not betrayed as it gave the lawmakers the freedom to make informed decision on who they wanted as their leader in the National Assembly.
He also said the inability of the LP to form an alliance with other opposition political parties contributed to why the lawmakers couldn’t achieve much in the choice of the leadership of the NASS.
His words “The truth about it is that had it been we formed a synergy of a complete opposition with the other parties, things would have been different. You know, we had only eight senators and 34 House of Reps members. It is not enough for us to form an independent opposition which would have been the ideal thing that we ought to have done”.
“If we had worked together with the other political parties such as PDP, NNPP, APGA, SDP and YPP, we would have formed a complete opposition and possibly we would have picked a person from among us to become Senate President or Speaker. However, that didn’t work out because we believe that other political parties are shopping for relevance within the majority party”.
“What we are doing is that we are playing politics within the majority in order to be relevant so as to achieve what we want to deliver to the people. Also, our principals gave the lawmakers a free hand so that they can play the National Assembly politics within their own personal conviction, not as if we are teleguiding or gagging them”.
“The principle of the Labour Party, the needs of the Nigerian people, the determination and the zeal of the Obidient movement is not negotiable in whatever group the lawmakers find themselves. So, that is the principle that guided them in the choice of their candidates in the National Assembly elections. So, there is no betrayal at all”.
 on Sunday said its elected federal lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives did not betray the party by voting for the anointed candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last week’s election of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.){kind=link}