The All Progressives Congress (APC) has threatened to drag a Rivers High Court judge before the National Judicial Council (NJC) following his court’s ruling in Port Harcourt that restrained the Martins Amaewhule-led group of the Rivers State Assembly from forcefully gaining access into the assembly complex, pending the hearing of the suit before it.
Reports say the Assembly and the Speaker, Edison Ehie, went to court seeking an exparte order preventing Amaewhule and his group from forcefully gaining access into the Assembly complex.
Tony Okocha, the Rivers State chairman of the APC threatened to report the judge, while maintaining that the judge’s ruling is unacceptable to the party.
It is no longer news that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) have called for the seats of 27 Rivers State lawmakers who defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be declared vacant, and for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) begin the process for fresh elections.
The news, is actually old news of a viral video showing the former state governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, vehemently opposing movement from one party to another.
Wike is alleged to be the godfather of the 27 lawmakers, who shifted allegiance to the APC on Monday, citing lack of funding by Rivers governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, and crisis within the PDP.
The PDP, through its spokesman, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Monday demanded
that INEC conducts fresh elections in 27 State constituencies, insisting
that defected the lawmakers automatically vacated their seats by moving over to the APC.
The ruling party in the state 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).
It adds: “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.”
