- PDP asks INEC to hold fresh polls in their constituencies
Twenty-seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the House of Assembly have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing “the protracted crisis in the party’s national leadership”.
They said their defection had nothing to do with the crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, his predecessor.
Led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, the lawmakers dumped the PDP at plenary, chiding Governor Siminalayi Fubara for refusing to hand over former Majority Leader Edison Ehie and others to the police for investigation into their alleged involvement in the arson on the House of Assembly complex.
Ehie is leading a group of four members of the House of Assembly.
The Rivers Assembly is made up of 32 members. One members died recently.
In their letters to the Speaker, the lawmakers also attributed their defection to the division triggered by the tussle for the position of the National Secretary of the party.
The letter was read on the floor of the House. With the defection, PDP now has only five members in the Assembly.
The lawmakers sang the familiar partisan anthem:” On-your-mandate we shall stand,” waving the APC flags.
Many of them shouted “Jagaban” throughout the process as they posed for a group photograph, before they left the complex.
According to the lawmakers, the confusion surrounding the position of the National Secretary has led to a plethora of court cases instituted by party members.
They accused Fubara of shielding suspected arsonists who attempted to set the Assembly ablaze.
In a motion sponsored by 26 lawmakers and moved by Sylvanus Nwankwo (Omuwa Constituency), they condemned the seizure of funds for the management of the Assembly.
The lawmakers condemned the brazen and unlawful attack on them and the Assembly as an institution.
According to them, the governor should release funds meant for the management of the Assembly for November.
They threatened to decline requests from Fubara for approvals, adding that his actions are no longer in tandem with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the laws of the state.
The lawmakers later deliberated on the Rivers State Local Government Law (Amendment) Bill 2023, which was at its Second Reading.
The bill was sponsored by the Leader of the House and member representing Akuku Toru Constituency 1, Majority Jack.
Members unanimously declared that some sections of the local government law were repugnant and needed to be amended to ensure that elected local government officials were not at the mercy of any individual.
Amaewhule sent the bill to the House Committee on Local Government to conduct a public hearing and make further inputs within two weeks.
PDP asks INEC to hold fresh polls
The PDP has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should immediately commence the process of conducting fresh elections into the 27 State Constituencies in Rivers State.
The party said this is sequel to the vacancy created when “27 former (Rivers) state lawmakers” who willfully abandoned their seats by defecting from to the APC.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, spoke in a statement, in Abuja, on Monday.
He said, “The PDP asserts that by defecting from the PDP, the political Party platform on which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly, the seats of the respective 27 former lawmakers have become vacant 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 and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“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.
“Our Party cautions that the former lawmakers should stop parading themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as such would amount to impersonation with serious criminal consequences.
“The PDP commends the people of Rivers State for their steadfastness and loyalty to Democracy and Rule of Law especially at this time.”
