PDP maintains that pro-Wike lawmakers are no longer in the Rivers assembly

The Rivers State House of Assembly members who defection to the All Progressives Congress, according to the Peoples Democratic Party, have subsequently lost their seats for haughtily committed an unforgivable constitutional violation.

Twenty-five legislators who supported Nyesom Wike, the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a former governor of Rivers State, switched to the APC during the political impasse between the minister and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Nothing will force the PDP to change its position, the party said in a statement released on Thursday by Debo Ologunagba, its national publicity secretary.

Ologunagba claimed that the party is not under any duress to renounce its legal stance, having made it abundantly evident that the legislators have not been members of the Rivers State House of Assembly since their public announcement on December 11, 2023, that they were defecting from the PDP to the APC.

The statement read in part, “This clarification is a refutal of a mischievous report in a section of the social media falsely claiming that there are plots to compromise the party’s position and provide an unattainable lifeline to the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to return to their seats which they have constitutionally vacated.

“Our party, therefore, stands by its position that the affected members have since lost their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly, having arrogantly committed an unpardonable constitutional breach.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP in its Counter Claim by its National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade SAN in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023 filed at the Federal High Court Abuja stated clearly that the former Rivers State lawmakers “are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from December 11, 2023 when they publicly announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.”

The PDP spokesperson stated that the party is pursuing a directive for the Independent National Electoral Commission to hold bye-elections in the plaintiffs’ respective constituencies in compliance with legal provisions. The spokesperson further revealed that multiple judicial rulings from the nation’s highest court support their stance.

In the said suit, the PDP seeks, among other things, the following declaration/orders against the former Rivers State lawmakers: “A Declaration that by provisions of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the seats of the plaintiffs have been vacant since 11th December 2023 when the plaintiffs announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“A Declaration that the plaintiffs are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, having defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 11th December 2023.

“An Order directing the first defendant (INEC) to conduct bye-elections in the respective constituencies of the plaintiffs in compliance with the provisions of the laws.”