Don’t be deceived by Abuja, your seats remain vacant, PDP National Chairman tells pro-Wike lawmakers

Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Iliya Damagum, has said the 25 Rivers Assembly lawmakers who defected from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) remain sacked.

Damagum, in a press statement on Tuesday, said the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in resolving the political feud between Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, does not change the situation of the 25 as ex-Rivers Assembly lawmakers.

27 lawmakers of the Rivers Assembly initially defected from the PDP to the APC a week ago, but two of them – Tonye Adoki, a member representing Port Harcourt Constituency II, and Linda Somiari Stewart representing Okrika Constituency, returned to the PDP and even apologised to Governor Siminalayi Fubara over their action.

Recall that Tinubu brokered a peace deal between Wike and Fubara at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday. Part of the peace deal included that the 25 pro-Wike lawmakers whose seats were declared vacant by pro-Fubara lawmakers, be reversed.

But the PDP, at the end of its National Working Committee (NWC) meeting on the Political situation in Rivers State, said there is no remedy for the 25.

A statement issued by the party’s acting chairman reads: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asserts that there is no remedy for the 25 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who by virtue of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) vacated and lost their seats by reason of defection from the PDP, the Party platform upon which they were elected into the House of Assembly.

“Our Party insists that having now vacated and lost their seats, the only option available for the former lawmakers, if they wish to return to the House of Assembly, is to seek fresh nomination and re-election on the platform of any political party of their choice in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.

“The 25 former Rivers lawmakers freely and without any cause vacated their seats, being fully aware of the consequences of defection from the Party upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly without the conditions stipulated by the 1999 Constitution.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no division in the PDP at the national or any other level for that matter to justify the defection of the 25 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the Party. They therefore vacated their seats for reasons best known to them and cannot return to the House of Assembly without passing through a fresh electoral process in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.

“Moreover, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Rt. Hon (Barr) Ehie O. Edison DSSRS officially declared the seat of the defected now former members vacant in line with Section 109 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The Rivers State House of Assembly, having become Functus Officio on the matter cannot re-admit the former lawmakers unless through the channel of a fresh election.

“Our Party therefore counsels the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to be deceived by anybody giving them the false hope and impracticable assurances in Abuja that they can return to the Rivers State House of Assembly without a fresh election or that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can be stopped from conducting fresh election into the 25 Rivers State Constituencies where vacancies have occurred by reason of their defection.

“For emphasis Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022 is clear in providing that no Courts have powers to stop INEC from conducting elections wherever and whenever a vacancy occurs in any electoral constituency.

“For clarity Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides that

‘Nothing in this section shall empower the Courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election under this Act pending the determination of the suit.’

“The PDP demands that INEC should, in line with Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, fix a date for the conduct of fresh election into the 25 State Constituencies in Rivers State where vacancies have occurred by reason of the defection of the now former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, pending the determination of any suit in any court.

“The national leadership of the PDP charges all members of our great Party in Rivers State to remain united and resolute in the defence of Constitutional democracy and Rule of Law in Rivers State.”