A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Darlington Nwauju, has stated that the defection of the 27 lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly to the APC, contravened the Constitution of the party.
This was as the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, worldwide, has called on the factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers that left the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on which they were elected to the APC.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Nwauju, an embattled Publicity Secretary of the party in the Rivers State noted that the 27 lawmakers did not follow due process provided by law in their movement to the APC, adding that the decamping contravened the Constitution of APC.
Nwauju noted that the party cannot celebrate the movement of the 27 lawmakers to the APC, adding that they did not approach their decamping from the ward level as provided by the party’s guiding principle.
He said: “Ordinarily, as a political party we should be opening our door for new members from other political parties. However, in this instant case, the defection of the lawmakers, passing through the constitutionally approved method of defection in our party, from Article 8 and 9 of the APC Constitution 2022 as amended, you will clearly see the method and that is by joining through your ward, that is, getting registered at the ward level.
“There are also some exceptions, wherein the national working committee of the party can sit and consider in special cases, to approve wavers for certain individuals. At the 134 meeting you heard the outcome of that particular meeting. It did not point to the fact that some persons had applied for waver to join APC in Rivers State.”
Meanwhile, President of IYC, Alaye Theophilus, called on the Edison to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers vacant.
Theophilus spoke during a solidarity march to the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt, during the 25th Kaiama Day commemoration.
“In as much as Rivers State is, it is a PDP state. As a student of politics and history, Nigeria law has made it explicitly clear that before an individual that won a seat from a particular party will be allowed to defect to another party, there must be crisis in the party.
“In as much as we know, there is no division in PDP. So, I don't think they know what they are doing. It is now left for the Honourable Speaker, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie to do the needful by declaring their seats vacant. Because they have taken the wrong step.”
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