Rivers Speaker declares 27 pro-Wike loyalists’ seats vacant

The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, has declared the seats of the defected lawmakers in the state vacant.

It would be recalled that 27 out of the 32 members of the House, on Monday, December 11, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defected lawmakers are said to be the loyalists of the immediate past governor of Rivers State and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Ehie, however, declared their seats vacant during plenary at an undisclosed location on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.

The defected lawmakers had cited division within the PDP as the reason for the defection.

The 27 lawmakers also accused Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of starving them of funds.

The PDP had urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers vacant for defecting to the APC.

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The PDP, in a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said by leaving the party, on which platform they were elected, their seats had become vacant.

Ologunagba said this was by virtue of the provision of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

He stated: “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

“They have 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.”

The PDP spokesman also warned the defectors from parading themselves as members of the House, saying this would amount to impersonation.

The Star