The major opposition political party at the national level, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared the seat of former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori’s daughter, Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, in the House of Representatives vacant for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP, which announced the vacancy of Ibori-Suenu’s seat in a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence processes to conduct a fresh election to fill ther position.
SaharaReporters had reported that Ibori-Suenu who is representing Ethiope federal constituency of Delta State in the House of Representatives, dumped the PDP and joined the APC.
Ibori-Suenu had disclosed this in her letter to the PDP Local Government Chairman, Ethiope West Local Government Area, dated December 5, 2024.
In the letter titled: “Notice of Resignation of Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu as member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the lawmaker claimed that her resignation was occasioned by the lingering crisis and exclusion by the State chapter of the party in its activities.
However, the PDP in the statement said that it is settled in law that by her defection from the PDP, the political Party platform upon which she was elected into the House of Representatives, she willfully vacated her seat, “Thus rendering it vacant by virtue of the self-executory provision of Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
The statement added, “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…”
“With this unambiguous Constitutional provision and its clear interpretation by the Supreme Court, Hon. Ibori-Suenu has irredeemably lost her seat, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to a member of the House of Representatives.
“Hon. Ibori-Suenu should therefore stop parading herself as a member of the House of Representatives as such would amount to impersonation with likely criminal consequences.
“The PDP calls on the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms to note that Hon. Ibori-Suenu has ceased to be a member of the House of Representatives.
“The PDP is communicating to INEC to, within the Constitutionally stipulated time, conduct fresh election to fill the vacancy which now exists in Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency of Delta State as a result of the defection of Hon. Ibori-Suenu to the APC.
“The PDP also directs the National Legal Adviser to commence appropriate legal action to ensure that the votes and mandate of the people of Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency of Delta State, which they freely gave to the PDP are protected and not appropriated by any person or any other political party under any guise or circumstance whatsoever.”
Credit: SaharaReporters except headline
