Rivers Assembly defection: Declare seats vacant, conduct fresh election – LP

By Tom Okpe

The opposition Labour Party, (LP) has called on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in Rivers State, led by Governor Siminalaye Fubara to declare seats of the House of Assembly Members, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) vacant, conducting fresh election.

It was reported that 27 State Assembly members, defected to the APC without recourse to the National Constitution.

According to Hilda Dokubo, Rivers State Chairman of the LP in Abuja on Monday, in a press statement said the party is directly involved in this matter because we know the manipulations and electoral frauds that threw up some of these out-going lawmakers in the State.

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The statement reads: “It has come to the attention of leadership of the Party, recent development in the Rivers State House of Assembly, where about 27 members of the Assembly were said to have defected from one party to another in disregard to the constitutional provisions.

“Section 109 (1) (g) of the Nigeria constitution clearly, states that ‘A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House, if 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.’

“The above provision of the constitution is very clear about the fate that must befall those legislators, who betrayed the party that sponsored them.

“Therefore, LP is calling on Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly to declare vacant the 27 seats of the defected members without delay in line with the laws of the land.

“The party is also, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to begin the process of conducting a fresh election to fill the vacant spaces.”

The Party recalls that in 2022, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sacked 16 Ebonyi House of Assembly members for defection.

“The court held that the movement was in breach of Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution, (as amended) which provides that defector legislators are not allowed to retain their seats in the legislature.

“The same fate befell, 18 members of the Cross River House of Assembly and 2 members of the House of Representatives, who were asked to vacate their seats for defecting from their party, last year.

“The LP can also vividly recall that in 2012, our member representing Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency defected to another party.

“This case lingered until the Supreme Court in 2022, ordered him to immediately, vacate his seat following his defection from the Labour Party.

“The Court’s unanimous judgement held that the lawmaker who decamped from the LP to another party was constitutionally, unfit to retain his seat as a Federal Lawmaker in the Federal House of Representatives.

“Though, the case aforementioned, was slow in coming but the fact that the apex Court did justice to the matter with a proper interpretation of the law is enough for the political class to be aware that it can no longer take both the electorates and party that sponsored them for elections for a ride.

“The party is directly involved in this matter because we know the manipulations and electoral frauds that threw up some of these out-going lawmakers in the State, which unfortunately, deprived popular candidates of out Party victory in the last election.

“We believe that with fresh election in Rivers state, the people will have the opportunity to elect their true representatives,” it added.