By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja –
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers at the River House Assembly vacant, for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP National Publicity Secretary Mr Debo Ologunagba disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.
Ologunagba said that by leaving the PDP, on which platform they were elected, their seats had become vacant.
He said this was by virtue of the provision of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 109 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if …
“(g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political Party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected…”
“By reason of the above Constitutional provision and its clear interpretation by the Supreme Court, the 27 defected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have vacated
“They have lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly,” he said.
Ologunagba added:“The PDP therefore demands that the Speaker of the Rivers State House Assembly immediately comply with the provision of the Constitution by declaring the seats of the 27 former lawmakers vacant.
“In view of the vacancy now exiting in the 27 State Constituencies in Rivers State, the PDP demands that INEC should within the stipulated period under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) conduct fresh election to fill the vacancies.”
He also cautioned the defectors from parading themselves as members of the House of Assembly as that would amount to impersonation.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply