By Mercy Gadia
The defection of the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese has continued to elicit reactions in the National Assembly.
Agbese, who represents Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State, officially effected his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party (LP) on the floor of the House, during the resumed plenary on Tuesday.
Reading his official letter of defection, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, said Agbese’s decision to leave the APC was due to the lingering crises within the party.
The Lawmaker, however, reaffirmed his support for the Renewed Hope Mandate of President Bola Tinubu, while assuring that his Federal Constituency “remains fully alligned with this vision and I will continue to lend my unwavering support”.
“Your Excellency, I pledge to continue working diligently with you and my distinguished colleagues across party lines, for the overall development of my constituency and Nigeria as a whole”, the letter reads in part.
While reacting, Speaker Abbas underscored the political significance of Agbese’s defection, saying, no Member of the House of Representatives have left a ruling party to another political party since the beginning of 10th National Assembly.
“Honourable Colleagues, we have the first Member of the 10th House of Representatives leaving the majority party to join the LP. So, Members of the Labour Party should please appreciate him”, the Speaker said.
Addressing newsmen shortly after his defection, Hon. Agbese said his decision was for the best interest of the people of his constituency, dismissing the rumours making rounds that he was going to be the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in Benue.
“Well, first and foremost, let me thank the people of Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency for the opportunity to be here. And secondly, we are about to kick start another round of the tournament, and the people, of course, having critically examined the machinery that brought us here, and they realized some faults, have decided to board another plane, which is the Labour Party. So let me thank Her Excellency, Senator Nenadi Usman, the national chairman of the Labour Party, and the entire leadership, for accepting us to be part of the Labour family.
“I want to categorically put it on record that our defection is about service to our people. It is about making ourselves available again for service come 2027 and our people, the largest population of our people, have taken a very firm position, to say that the Labour Party is the only available vehicle that will take us to the expected destination, come 2027,and as a servant of the people, we have no choice than to be part of the Labour family. That is why we’re here today”, he said.
While affirming his loyalty to his new party and waving off importation of crises from his estwile party, Agbese pledged his loyalty to the party. He said, “this is a new family. I’m just coming in, and as the new political leader of the party in Benue state, we also have our national leader, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti. He is the national leader of this great party. So I think there is a need for us to step down our old behavior from the APC, wear a new lens and see things differently. So, not until we do that, we don’t really know, but I believe that Her Excellency Senator Nenadi Usman, has accepted me into this party and to lead the party to victory.
“So basically, our strategies are going to be centered on her. The Labour Party is going to win elections in Benue state. Of course, we don’t know who is going to be the presidential candidate of the party, but I know that the Labour Party will be contesting all the elections in Benue state, and in the event that we decide to adopt Mr. President (Bola Tinubu), we’re also going to make sure that Mr. President wins Benue state.
“We’ll constitute our campaign Council in Benue state, launch it and ensure that we work, if we adopt Mr. President as our candidate, and work for other candidates that the party is going to adopt. What I can say is that, it is not time to fight. It is time to win elections. And that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing. So I think the strategy for winning election and the strategy for fight are two different things, now it is time to win election”.
On why he did not join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) which National Chairman hails from Benue South, Agbese said, “the people of my Federal Constituency are completely different kind of people. They respect multi party democracy. Today, my Federal Constituency is one of the most vibrant constituencies in the country, because we have the Labour Party today, which, of course, in the Federal Constituency is the ruling party. We have the PDP, the ADC and the APC. I think it is not about the name of the political party. It is about the people, and majority of our people are much more at home with the Labour Party than all the other political parties.
“Let me inform you that, we commenced the registration exercise of the Labour Party just about eight days ago, and across the three local government areas, we have recorded over 10,000 membership, beating the membership register of all the political parties that were there before us. So that is to say that the people of Enone Federal Constituency are typically of the Labour Party. They love the party, and that is exactly where they want us to be at the moment. The people earlier sent us with the ticket of All Progressives Congress, but this time, the people have re-examined that vehicle and say, No, we can no longer use that vehicle. This is much more better.
“So for us, it is not about any individual. It’s not about anybody in Makurdi. It is not about anybody in Abuja. It’s about the poor people across the villages. It is about our mothers. It is about children. It is about our fathers back at home. So for now, they believe that the Labour Party – Mama, Papa & Pikin, is the only vehicle that will deliver this needed dividends of democracy beyond 2027”.
The Lawmaker, while debunking the rumours of his governorship ambition, said, though he is the leader of Labour Party in Benue state, by the virtue of his position, but the party would field another candidate for governorship other than him.
His words: “I do not believe in leadership. I believe much more in Servantship. And today we have also adopted the responsibility not to even be servant again, but to become labourers. There’s no governorship ambition in sight at the moment. We cannot rule that out in the nearest or in the farthest future, but at the moment, I think it is about the people of a Enone Federal Constituency, whatever happens post-2027 years is too early to say, the Labour Party is going to have a governorship candidate. We’re likely to have one, and they are likely to campaign. We’re going to campaign, to sell the party’s manifesto to the people of Benue state”.
In declaring his continued loyalty and support for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Agbese stressed that, “to the end of time, the SGF remains my father, my greatest benefactor. He made it possible for me to be here. I remain grateful to him, and I’ll be grateful to him to the end of the world. At the moment, it is not about my former party. It is not about individuals, highly placed individuals, sending emissaries to us. The decision wasn’t about me, it was about my people and where my people go. That is where I will be. No man rules in isolation. You can’t lead without the people following you. So if the people who have been with me all these years, have decided to move to the Labour Party, who am I?.
“I just joined the party yesterday, but my registration number is 7615, that is to tell you that 7614 persons had joined the Labour Party before me in my local government area, my card is 7615, I repeat 7615, which means that 7614 persons had joined the Labour Party before my entrance. My former political party, I’m aware, registered 7794 persons in a period of four to five months.
“The Labour Party is the newest bride today in my Federal Constituency. If you are a good leader, you must listen to the reading of the people. You must say which direction they are going, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. My people today, have chosen the Labour Party over the APC, over any other political party in my Federal Constituency, and as a good servant leader, that’s exactly why we today are in the Labour Party”.