The Labour Party has announced its intention to take legal action against four of its House of Representatives members who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The four defected members are Chinedu Okere, Mathew Donatus, Akiba Bassey, and Esosa Iyawe.

The defection was announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday.

Abbas cited “internal crisis” within the Labour Party as the reason for their defection.

However, the party’s spokesman, Obiora Ifoh, said nobody reserves the right to defect with the party’s mandate.

In a statement, Ifoh said: “Though the Labour Party leadership is undaunted by the defection, it has, however, elected not to allow it to slide and has therefore instructed its legal team to commence legal actions against the defectors and to also commence the process of regaining our mandates in line with the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act as amended.

“There is absolute peace in the Labour Party. Therefore, no one elected on the ticket of the Labour Party has the constitutional protection to decamp from the party along with the party’s mandate.”