The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately initiate the process of conducting a fresh election to fill the Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
The seat, the PDP asserts, automatically became vacant following the defection of Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement issued on Friday by Debo Ologunagba, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, the party emphasized that it is settled law that Hon. Ibori-Suenu, by defecting from the PDP, the platform under which she was elected into the House of Representatives willfully vacated the Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency seat.
This action, the PDP argues, renders the seat vacant under the self-executory provision of Section 68 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
The statement clarified, “For clarity, Section 68 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that ‘a member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if … (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.’”
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The PDP added, “With this unambiguous constitutional provision and its clear interpretation by the Supreme Court, Hon. Ibori-Suenu has irredeemably lost her seat, along with the rights, privileges, recognition, and obligations associated with being a member of the House of Representatives.
“Hon. Ibori-Suenu should therefore desist from parading herself as a member of the House of Representatives, as such conduct amounts to impersonation with potential criminal consequences. The PDP calls on the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms to note that Hon. Ibori-Suenu is no longer a member of the House of Representatives.”
The PDP further announced that it has officially communicated with INEC, urging the commission to conduct a fresh election within the constitutionally stipulated timeframe to fill the vacancy in the Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency of Delta State created by Hon. Ibori-Suenu’s defection to the APC.
Additionally, the PDP directed its National Legal Adviser to take appropriate legal action to ensure that the votes and mandate of the people of the Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency, freely given to the PDP, are protected and not usurped by any individual or political party under any guise or circumstance.
Hon. Ibori-Suenu, in a letter dated Thursday, December, addressed to the PDP Chairman of the Ethiope West Council area, explained that her resignation was prompted by her alleged exclusion by the Delta State chapter of the party.
