Right activist- lawyer Mr. Femi Falana, (SAN) has said lawmakers who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ought to resign from the legislature.
In a statement made available to The Nation yesterday, Falana advised the defectors, who are mostly members of the Reformed- All Progressives Congress (R-APC), to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
Fifty-three members of the National Assembly dumped the ruling party and moved to the opposition, with most of them citing division as their reason for leaving.
Among the lawmakers were 37 members of the House of Representatives and 15 senators, including the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Falana, however, stated that the defection of the governors of Benue, Kwara and Sokoto did not break the law.
He condemned an alleged attempt by eight of the 30 members of the Benue State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom.
The activist also warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to “drop forthwith” any impeachment moves against the Senate President, because it requires the support of a two-third majority of the Senate.
Falana said: “No doubt, the members of the R-APC were dissatisfied with the running of the affairs of the APC, but they did not hold any parallel convention, which would have produced elected officials of the aggrieved members.
“To that extent, the defection of the R-APC legislators from the APC to the PDP and ADC can be impugned under Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution.
“However, since the APC had allowed legislators to defect from the PDP to join its fold in the recent past, the ruling party lacks the moral and political right to condemn the defection of the R-APC legislators.
“But the crass opportunism of the APC cannot legitimise the prostitution of the political system. Having defected from the APC, which sponsored their elections, the R-APC defectors ought to resign from the legislative houses and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.”
Falana also argued that on the basis of a decided case, “…the defection of Governors Tambuwal, Ortom and Ahmed of Sokoto, Benue and Kwara states respectively from the APC to the PDP cannot be said to be illegal or unconstitutional.”