The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately declare vacant the seats of its members in the Imo state House of Assembly that defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress and conduct fresh elections in the affected local government. The party made the call on Wednesday in a press conference held in Abuja.
According to Kola Ologbondiyan, the party's Publicity Secretary, " these defectors are fully aware of the grave implication of their actions to the effect that by their defection to the APC, they have automatically lost their seats and membership of the Imo state House of Assembly as they can only hold such position on the mandate of the party on which they were elected; the PDP."
He added that the matter had since been settled by law.
"It is settled under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), that a legislator who decamps from a party upon which he was elected a member of a legislative house automatically losses his or her membership of that house as the seat belongs to the political party upon which platform the election was won and not the individual.
"The vacation of seat, as a direct consequence of decamping to another political party other than the party upon which one was elected to occupy a seat in the legislature, is clear and unambiguous under section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
"For the avoidance of doubt, section 109 (1)(g) provides that “a member of the House of Assembly SHALL VACATE his seat in the House if …(g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:
"The Constitution went further to state “provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored".
"Consequent upon the above constitutional provisions, these defectors have vacated their seats, they no longer have a place in the state assembly, as there is no division or merger of any kind in the PDP at any level whatsoever.
"The PDP is therefore left with no other option than to request the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence the processes for the conduct of fresh elections into the respective state constituencies where the legislators have vacated their seats, in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
"The PDP calls on our teeming members and supporters in Imo state to remain calm and focused at this trying time as the national leadership proceeds with arrangements ahead of fresh elections in the affected constituencies.
"Moreover, the national leadership assures the people of Imo state that processes are already on towards achieving a judicial review and reversal of the defective judgment of the Supreme Court, on the Imo state governorship election".
The call is coming a day after the Speaker and seven other members of the PDP defected to the APC. Last week, nine members defected including some from the PDP defected to the APC.
