Defection: Ondo indigenes want court to declare 22 lawmakers’ seats vacant

Some Ondo State indigenes have approached a Federal High Court sitting in Akure, asking it to declare the seats of the legislators elected under the platform of the Labour Party vacant, having defected to Peoples Democratic Party.

The plaintiffs, Ayo Agbomuserin and Taofiq Abdusalam, in an originating summon had sued the twenty House of Assembly members that defected from Labour Party to PDP in October 8th, 2014, the Independent National Electoral Commission, Inspector General of Police, Director General, Department of State Security Service and the. Ondo State House of Assembly.

In the suit, the former speakers sought declarations that the twenty legislators, having abandoned the Labour Party to the PDP, have automatically and constitutionally vacated their seats as members of the state house of assembly by virtue of. section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Also, they sought a declaration that the legislators have since ceased to be members of Ondo state house of assembly from 8th of October, 2014 having dumped the Labour Party under which they were elected, as well as a declaration that all legislative actions and activities performed, bill passed and other legislative functions carried out by them as members of Ondo state house of assembly are null, void, unconstitutional and ultra vires.

In the written summon, they asked the court to grant an order of perpetual injunction restraining the legislators from parading themselves as members of the Ondo State house of assembly and an border restraining the INEC, the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of State Security Service from recognising them as members of the state house of assembly.

He believed that the twenty two legislators had defected from the Labour Party to the PDP when there was no division in the Labour Party.

According to Abdusalam, the legislators contravened section 109(1) which provides that a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat, if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another party before the expiration of the period for which he was elected, provided that his membership of the later political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member. The date of hearing of the suit is yet to be fixed.