Niger state House of Assembly has declared vacant the seat of two legislators who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition.
The legislators affected by this move are Honorable Mohammed Bashir Lokogoma from Wushishi and Honorable Abdulahi Mohammed Nazeer from Rijau.
This unfolding event is a reflection of the row between Governor Babngida Aliyu
Declaring their seats vacant, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Barrister Adamu Usman said, the action of the State Assembly was based on the letter written to it by the state chapter of PDP confirming that the two members had defected to APC.
The two defectors were not allowed to defend themselves as they were ordered by the speaker to be walk out by the Sergeant of Arm despite claiming to have secured a court order restraining the state Assembly of taking any action against them which led to a rowdy session in the chambers.
The letter written to the state Assembly by the state PDP and made available to Journalists reads in part, “Information reaching the state secretariat of the party indicates that the two members of the state Assembly above mentioned (Bashir Abdullahi Isa Lokogoma and Nazeer Abdullahi) have defected and abandoned the PDP which provide them the platform for their election and joined the opposition APC party. The state working committee (SWC) of the party has investigated and found the information to be true.
“The SWC is of the firm view that the action of the said State Assembly members were (sic) taken without recourse to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and therefore uses this medium to call on the Speaker to invoke the relevant providing of the 199 constitution which empowers him to remedy this kind of invasion and brazen affront to our constitution.”
The letter added that Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 constitution stated that a member of state Assembly shall vocate his seat for defecting to another party before the expiration of the period for which the said member was elected, provided his defection was not owing to a faction in his original party or merger with other party.
Meanwhile,the affected members described the action of the Assembly as a clear case of impunity .They said it was unfortunate for lawmakers to act in total disregard to a court order.
Commending the move of the state House of Assembly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the action of the state Assembly as novel and a move towards bringing moral sanity to the polity of the state and also as an example to stem the tide of defections among Nigerian politicians.
The Acting Chairman of PDP in the state, Umaru Musa Ma’ali said the Niger state assembly has indeed shown that there is hope for Nigeria in the area of instilling morality in the area of remaining committed to one political party adding that they should be praised for upholding constitutional requirement which stipulates that once a person decamps, the seat should be declared vacant.
“ The decision of the Niger State House of Assembly to declare the seat of two members of the House who defected to the APC is a will encourage discipline and engender moral virtues among politicians. I am very pleased with what has happened. It will help prevent the shameful trend of decamping, which has become a trend among politicians.
“We must understand that once politicians realize they will lose their seats, they will not decamp anymore. It is indeed good tiding for democracy as Niger House of Assembly has set the record straight on the constitutionality of decamping which stipulates that seat should be declared vacant.”
He further said that desperation is responsible for decamping adding that it is not healthy politically and has negative implication on peace and development aspirations.
