On Wednesday, the political crisis in Rivers State made headlines in the Nigerian media as 27 members of the State House of Assembly defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). It is no secret that Nyesom Wike, former Rivers Governor and current Minister of the FCT, is in a bitter power struggle with his successor and current Governor, Siminalayi Fubara. Out of the 32 House of Assembly members, 27 are loyal to Wike led by Martins Amaewhule, while only five are loyal to Fubara led by Edison Ehie.
Following the mass defection to the ruling party, Fubara’s loyalists held a plenary in the Rivers State Government House, headed by Ehie. At the session, Fubara submitted the 2024 budget for the state, and shortly after, Ehie declared the seats of the 27 defectors vacant. This move has received mixed reactions from Nigerians.
Legal Practitioner, Emmanuel Anele, analyzed the development and revealed that Ehie lacks the power to make such a declaration. According to him, the action does not comply with the stipulations of Section 109, Subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“These members have not lost their seats unless the court now says that having defected from PDP to APC and the reasons you cited could not avail you of that defection, you hereby lose your seat. It’s on that ground that the Speaker will now say, ‘In view of the judgment before me against the 27 lawmakers that defected, their seats have been declared vacant’,” Anele said.
“That section did not automatically empower the Speaker to declare any seat vacant unless the fact as to the issue of defection is determined by the court. The provision of the section states that if there is a defection from party A to party B and that defection has not caused a division in the party that brought the member to power, then you can declare their seat vacant.”