‘Political puppets’: PDP threatens legal action against defected Rivers lawmakers

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the defection by 16 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, describing the lawmakers as “political puppets” whose actions undermine democratic governance in the state.

The PDP, in a statement issued on Saturday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said the repeated defections confirm that the lawmakers are acting at the behest of “their paymaster and demigod,” rather than in the interest of the electorate who entrusted them with their mandates.

The party mocked the move as nothing more than “a defection from APC to APC,” saying the lawmakers had long abandoned the ideals of the PDP even before their latest declaration.

It stated: “We recall that they had done so earlier and later recanted. These are people whom the world is aware are doing the bidding of their paymaster and demigod.

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“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress. They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.

“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC.”

PDP also declared its readiness to initiate legal proceedings against the defected lawmakers, saying: “The PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the benner of our party which these people have now ignobly and surreptitiously switched to another platform.

“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity.”

The Star