My lord. Benedict Etanabene, who represents Okpe/Sapele/Ubwi Federal Constituency in Delta State, has called on four members who recently defected from the Labor Party (LP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to vacate their seats in Parliament.
Mr Etanabene maintained that the law on defections is clear and stressed that no persuasion should be required for MPs to give up their seats.
Naija News reports that Mr. Etanabene’s remarks were made by Mr. Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipality/Owerri North/Owerri West constituency), Mr. Matthew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency in Kaduna), Mr. Akiba Bassey (Calabar). Municipal/Odukpani Constituency) and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency) Edo).
Their defections were officially announced on Thursday by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Reacting to the development on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Mr Etanabene said:
“There’s no need to explain that. They should have packed up and left the rally. That’s the truth.
“That’s what the law says. The reason it was put into the law is to prevent situations like this. But let me tell you, things like this do happen from time to time, and we don’t have that in this country. is allowed.”
Etanabene explained that according to Nigeria’s legal framework, members of parliament can only switch political parties without losing their seats if there is a split within their original party at the national level.
He stressed that the Labor Party is currently under the leadership of Julius Habre, whose status has been recognized by the courts.
“If not, it is clear. If there is no division within the party at the national level, you cannot throw away the party that elected you president and go to another party. It is clear. The division of parties is established by the courts. It is not on anyone’s whim or whim to postulate or postulate division.
“A Nigerian court today said that the Julius Abre-led National Working Committee (NWC) was the true leadership of the party even when there were skirmishes a few months ago. The court’s order to the contrary is I don’t know,” he said.
The Labor Party then announced its intention to call for the defector’s seat to be left vacant, as allowed by Nigeria’s electoral laws.
But Etanabene expressed doubts that House leadership would take such action, noting that past precedent suggests otherwise.
“So I don’t think their actions are right in the eyes of the law. In a sane society with discipline, if that announcement was made yesterday, no one would be sitting in their seats by today.
“I don’t believe this House leadership will declare the seat vacant, which is the trend, but we must continue to challenge that action from a legal perspective,” he said.
