The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence the process of conducting fresh elections into the 27 State constituencies in Rivers State.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement issued Monday said that the 27 constituencies became vacant by reason of the defection of the 27 former State lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He mained that the seats of the respective 27 former lawmakers have become vacant by virtue of the provision of Section 109(1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Ologunagba added: “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 and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The PDP, therefore, called on the Speaker of the Rivers State House Assembly to immediately comply with the provision of the Constitution by declaring the seats of the 27 former lawmakers vacant.
“In view of the vacancy now existing 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,” it stressed.
The party cautioned that the former lawmakers should stop parading themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as such would amount to impersonation with serious criminal consequences.