The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered 37 former members
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resign their seats at the
House of Representatives for defecting to the All Progressives Congress
(APC).
According to NAN (News Agency of Nigeria), the order was given on Monday in Abuja.
Delivering
judgment, Justice Adeniyi Ademola held that the defected lawmakers no
longer had any business, morally and legally, to stay in the House of
Reps.
He said they should honourably resign from their seats as
members of the House of Representative , having moved to another
political party, while their tenure had yet to expire.
“Having
perused the arguments of counsel and the constitutional provisions, it
is clear and unambiguous that the defendants were sponsored by the PDP
and won the election on its platform.
“It is also the court’s opinion that their tenure has not expired and there is no division in the PDP.
“The defendants are, therefore, not competent to vote or contribute to any proceedings in the House of Representatives.
“An
order of perpetual injunction is, hereby, ordered, restraining them
from altering or attempting to change the leadership of the House of
Reps,’’ Ademola said.
The NAN reports that the PDP had on Jan. 7
instituted a suit seeking to restrain the House of Representatives from
altering the composition of its leadership.
The party had
commenced the action following the defection of 37 lawmakers, who won
election on its platform, to the opposition APC.
Mr Yunus Usman
(SAN), PDP’s counsel had, while arguing his originating summons, faulted
the cross-carpeting of the lawmakers, saying that the legislators did
so during the dependency of a judgment.
He argued that by virtue
of the Oct. 2013 judgment of Justice Evoh Chukwu, which said there was
no division in PDP, the matter had been laid to rest.
Usman had
further submitted that by virtue of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of
the 1999 Nigerian constitution, as amended, the lawmakers ought to have
vacated their seats immediately.
Mr Mamoud Magaji (SAN), counsel
to the defendants, had in his submission, argued that it was wrong for
the PDP to have sought to restrain its former members from House
activities for defecting.
Other defence counsel, Mr Niyi Akintola
(SAN), Mr Sebastian Hon (SAN), Mr James Ocholi (SAN), Mr Abiodun
Owonikoko (SAN), and Jibril Okutepa (SAN), had prayed the court to
dismiss the suit. (Naij)
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63311.html
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