The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said its members in the Imo State House of Assembly, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have lost their seats.
PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, who stated this at a press conference, yesterday, in Abuja, said going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the defectors were no longer members of the state House of Assembly.
Consequently, Ologbondiyan called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately conduct fresh elections in the various constituencies of the defecting lawmakers in accordance with the law. On Tuesday, the Speaker, Mr. Chiji Collins and seven PDP lawmakers defected to APC.
Deputy Speaker, Okey Onyekanma of the PDP and the Minority leader, Ekele Nnodimele of the AA and seven others had earlied defected on January 21.
The opposition spokesman described the action of the lawmakers as unpatriotic and a betrayal of their constituents, who elected them on the platform of the PDP.
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“The PDP holds that 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.
“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.”
However, Director of Media and Strategy of Governor Hope Uzodinma Campaign Organisation has has the state secretary of the PDP, Nze Ray Emeana and other members of the executive were begging to join the APC.
He was reacting to a statement by Emeana that the lawmakers that defected were offered N50 million and two plots of land each.
“If it was true as claimed by the state secretary of PDP that the state government gave lawmakers N50 million and two plots of land each to defect to APC, how much did the government give to the state chairman and national officer of the party, Regis Uwakwe, who also defected to the APC
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“Nothing can be farther from the truth. So how much was the state chairman of PDP,Charles Ezekwem, who defected recently to APC given before he joined the APC? The truth of the matter is that Imo has been and will remain an APC state. The PDP and Emeka Ihedioha stole the mandate Imo people gave to APC in the governorship elections and that brought about great confusion and many people out of confusion went their different ways.
“Now that the mandate has been recovered, they are coming back to where they belong and the lawmakers, the state chairman of PDP and their national officers are not excluded.
“I can tell you that even the state secretary Ray Emeana is not left out. As I speak with you he is negotiating to join APC but there is no head way yet.
“I suspect he is feeling frustrated that he is not making much progress in his negotiations hence his decision to vent his anger on the government with the tissue of lies he released in the hope of drawing attention to his stalled negotiations.”
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