Defection: Kaduna, Niger Assemblies declare lawmakers seats vacant

Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi Shagali on Wednesday, declared the seat of the immediate past deputy speaker and another member vacant following their defection from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP).

The affected lawmakers are the former Deputy Speaker, Mr. John Audu, who represents Kachia Constituency and Junaidu Yakubu, who represents Kudan Constituency.

Citing Section 21 of the constitution, the speaker of the state Assembly, said having been elected on the platform of the APC, the two members have lost their seats by moving to another party.

The speaker while declaring their seats vacant, said, “The members, having been elected under the APC without any division both at the national and the state level decamped to another party and so their seats have now been declared vacant based on the provision of the law”.

According to him, their seats were declared vacant based on Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The speaker thereafter swore in Deacon Nuhu Goroh Shadalafiya, as the new deputy speaker.

Speaking shortly after his appointment the new Deputy Speaker, Nuhu Shadalafiya, said his appointment was as a result of the letter the former deputy speaker wrote to the assembly tendering his resignation, adding that “the seat cannot be left vacant which is why the assembly nominated and appointed me”.

He said by law, there is no rancour within the APC both at the federal or state level, hence the defecting members have no reason to change their party.

The Daily Times recalls that the former deputy speaker had on August 14, tendered his letter of resignation as a member of the APC and his position as the deputy speaker respectively, saying that most of the party supporters have left due to impunity and division at the local government and state levels of the party.

In a related development, the Niger State House of Assembly on Wednesday declared the seat of the member representing Tafa constituency, Danladi Iyah, vacant.

Iyah had announced his resignation from the APC in a letter read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa.

According to the letter, Iyah said he was leaving the APC due to “untold hostility” during the period of his membership of the party.

He explained that the hostility snowballed into his suspension in June 2018 and all efforts to get the suspension lifted were futile and claimed he was not given a fair hearing.

The decision to declare his seat vacant was sequel to a letter sent to the House by the state Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Jibril Imam, backed by a motion moved by Bala Abba (Borgu/APC) and seconded by Mohammed Haruna (Bida II, APC).

Abba noted that constitutionally, a member could only leave his party if there was a division, adding that the reason given by the lawmaker for his resignation from the APC was not tenable.

“The only ground on which a member can leave his party is if there is a division within that party.

“And since there is no division in the APC and he is leaving, his seat should be declared vacant,’’ he added.

The House thereafter unanimously resolved to declare the member’s seat vacant through a voice vote.

When contacted, the embattled lawmaker said he would take legal action to challenge the decision of the House.

He said there was division at the national and the local government levels of his party, adding that those were enough reasons for him to leave.

Iyah wondered how the House could take such action when he has not formally written to it but had only notified them of his resignation.

According to him, the letter read on the floor was the one he wrote to his party at the local government level, which was copied to the House without his knowledge.

In a related development, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has presented a supplementary budget of N10.205 billion to the House for legislative consideration through a correspondence read by the speaker at plenary.