Port Harcourt, Rivers state
A lawyer, Kalu Kalu, has said the 27 lawmakers from Rivers state who recently left the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers state have lost their seats in the parliament.
Kalu stated this in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, December 12.
He noted that the law states that an elected official can only defect from his party to another during the course of his term if there is a leadership struggle within the party.
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He explained:
“The 27 affected constituencies, their seats are already vacant, going by the provision of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as uttered.
“Once you defect from the political party from which you won election, to another political party before the expiration of the house to which you were elected, you automatically lose that seat.”
‘Good Evening Nigeria‘ reported that about 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who are said to be loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, defected to the APC.
The lawmakers dumped the PDP for the APC on Monday, December 11, during the sitting of the house.