The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to be misled and urged them to prepare for a fresh election.
The crisis in the state House of Assembly escalated on December 11, 2023, with 27 members defecting from the ruling PDP to the APC.
Following a peace agreement signed on Monday between the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, brokered by President Bola Tinubu, the PDP’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, addressed the media after an emergency National Working Committee meeting on Tuesday.
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Damagum advised the lawmakers not to be deceived by impractical assurances in Abuja regarding their return to the State House of Assembly without a fresh election.
According to Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution, the lawmakers vacated their seats due to defection from the PDP.
Damagum emphasized that, given this constitutional provision, the only option for the former lawmakers to return to the House of Assembly would be to seek fresh nomination and re-election on the platform of any political party of their choice, following the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2022.
Damagum clarified that there is no division in the PDP at any level that justifies the defection of the 25 former members.
He emphasized that they voluntarily vacated their seats and cannot return to the House of Assembly without undergoing a fresh electoral process in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions.
The PDP chairman cited the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Ehie Edison, who officially declared the seats of the defected members vacant in line with constitutional stipulations.
The PDP urged the former lawmakers not to be deceived by false assurances in Abuja and emphasized that a fresh election is the proper channel for their potential return.
Damagum called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, in accordance with the Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2022, schedule a date for the conduct of a fresh election in the 25 State Constituencies in Rivers State where vacancies have occurred due to the defection.
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