By CHARLES IWUOHA

A fresh legal battle has unfolded at the Federal High Court, Abuja, as Labour Party (LP) chieftains, Eze Oko, the party’s 2023 governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, and Chief Henry Udeh, the state Labour Party Chairman, have instituted a suit against the member representing Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency, Andy Kama Nkemkanma Osi, over what they described as his illegal and unconstitutional defection from the Labour Party.

The suit, filed on December 1, 2025, and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2608/2025, seeks a judicial declaration that Osi’s seat in the House of Representatives be vacated following his resignation and subsequent defection from the Labour Party on 16 July 2025.

According to the originating summons, Osi was elected on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, but defected while his tenure from 2023 to 2027 was still ongoing.

The plaintiffs insisted that at the time of his defection, no division existed within the Labour Party, thereby eliminating any constitutional basis for abandoning the party that sponsored his election.

Oko and Udeh further accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, listed as the 2nd Defendant, of violating his constitutional duties by refusing to declare the seat vacant as required under Sections 68(1)(g) and 68(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

They argued that the law is clear that a lawmaker who defects from the political party that brought him into office without a division or crisis automatically loses the seat.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine: Whether the Speaker acted unlawfully in failing to declare the seat vacant; whether the court can intervene since the House leadership has allegedly failed to enforce constitutional provisions; and whether Osi should be compelled to refund all salaries, allowances and entitlements received from 16 July 2025 until the court delivers judgment.

Additionally, Oko and Udeh urged the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election to fill what they described as a constitutionally created vacancy, relying on Section 76 of the Constitution.

Their legal arguments were drawn from several judicial precedents, including Baba v INEC (2024), FBN Plc v Maiwada (2013), Kassim v Adesemowo (2021) and Aguma v APC (2021), which they said reinforce the principle that the Constitution must be strictly adhered to in cases involving political defections.

According to the plaintiffs, the framers of the Constitution were deliberate in seeking to curb what they called the “misallocation of the people’s mandate,” insisting that elected officials must remain accountable to the electorates and the parties that sponsored them.

The suit is being handled by a legal team led by Anderson U. Asemota, Esq. Service of court processes has been completed on the defendants at the National Assembly Complex, while the plaintiffs are represented through the Abuja office of Neplus Ultra Attorneys.

A hearing date is expected to be fixed in the coming days.

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