PDP asks Tambuwal to declare seats of 37 defecting reps vacant
The battle over the supremacy of numbers between the two major political parties in the country will soon shift to court chambers as two of them hold on to divergent interpretation of the same constitutional provision.
In its first official reaction to the defection of 37 legislators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All progressives Congress (APC), leaving the opposition with only seven members shy of majority at the lower chamber of the National Assembly, PDP on Thursday called on the on the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare the seats of 37 defectors vacant.
The lawmakers officially announced their defection to APC on Wednesday following a letter read during plenary by Tambuwal
The publicity secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said in a statement that by their action, the lawmakers have lost their seats as provided by the constitution.
He said, 'The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to claims by 37 defecting members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the PDP to the APC that they obtained an injunction restraining the leadership of the National Assembly and the Party from declaring their seats vacant in line with provisions of the Constitution.
'We have, after a careful review discovered that this claim is false. For the avoidance of doubt, the order of the Court clearly says that 'status quo' be maintained which means the affected members shall remain members of the PDP.
'The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in section 68 (i) (g) clearly spells out the consequences of cross carpeting when there is no division in any Party. We wish to re-emphasize here that the Courts have pronunced, and INEC has concurred that there are no factions in the PDP.
'Since the affected members have renounced their membership of the PDP, we call on the Presiding Officer in the House of Representatives to declare the 37 seats vacant without any further delay. This action shall be in adherence to our grand norm, which is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
'Nigerians are eagerly awaiting this call to duty as this will go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to the rule of law.'
A report by THIS DAY indicates that the PDP and its National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, have indeed formally written to the Speaker Tambuwal, asking him to direct the 37 lawmakers who defected from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday to revert to status quo.
According to the newspaper, this statement was made just as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP described as false the court order upon which 37 members of the House based their defection to the APC. The letter was signed by the counsel to the PDP and Tukur, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN).
They stated in the letter that a Federal High Court in Abuja had last Tuesday ordered the parties in the suit filed by the lawmakers seeking to restrain the PDP from declaring their seats vacant, to maintain the status quo.
In their view, the decision of the 37 lawmakers to announce their defection on the floor of the House was in violation of the court’s order directing the parties to maintain the status quo.
The letter reads: 'We have today filed a motion on notice, which has already been served on your office seeking to overturn the purported movement of 37 of the plaintiffs to the APC.
'It is in the light of this that we enjoin you to act in obedience to the order of court and direct the plaintiffs to revert to the status quo ante bellum.
'Anything contrary to this will send out the wrong signals to Nigerians and the world that the federal legislatures have no regard for the law and the constitution which they have sworn to uphold.
'The action of the plaintiffs, if not contained, may lead to a state of anarchy, which is not good for our democracy, constitutionalism, rule of law and the polity.'
They quoted Section 68 (1)(g) and (h) of the constitution, which gives the conditions under which a member of the House of Representatives who defects to another party might be allowed to retain his seat. PDP and Tukur argued that the conditions were not met.
'It is crystal clear from the above legal authorities that the mandatory criteria have not been complied with by the plaintiffs,' they added. They have also filed an application before the court seeking the following reliefs:
• An order of this court declaring the defection on December 18, 2013, by 37 of the plaintiffs from the PDP to ACP as null and void and contrary to the order of this court made on Tuesday, the 17th day of December, 2013.
• A mandatory order of this court that the 37 legislators revert to status quo pending the hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
• In the alternative to prayer 2 above, an order setting aside the earlier order of this court on parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing of the motion for interlocutory injunction.
The plaintiffs had approached the Federal High Court via an originating summons, for among others restraining the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President from declaring their seats vacant, in the event of their defection to another political party.
The case will come up on January 22, 2014.
Similarly, the NWC of the PDP yesterday described as false the court order upon which 37 members of the House of Representatives based their defection to the opposition APC.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, PDP said: 'We have, after a careful review, discovered that this claim is false. For the avoidance of doubt, the order of the court clearly says that status quo be maintained which means the affected members shall remain members of the PDP.'
According to him, 'The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Section 68(i)(g) clearly spells out the consequences of cross carpeting when there is no division in any party. We wish to re-emphasise here that the courts have pronounced, and INEC has concurred, that there are no faction in the PDP.'
Thus, Metuh added: 'Since the affected members have renounced their membership of the PDP, we call on the presiding officer in the House of Representatives to declare the 37 seats vacant without any further delay.
'This action shall be in adherence to our grand norm, which is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
'Nigerians are eagerly awaiting this call to duty as this will go a long way in demonstrating our commitment to the rule of law.'
But as the PDP battles to hold on to its lawmakers in the lower chamber, no fewer than 10 of the 22 senators who pledged loyalty to the splinter group of the PDP on September 2 this year, are currently warming up to defect to the APC.
The senators, who had hitherto operated as New PDP senators, on Tuesday, claimed that they had obtained an order of mandamus restraining Tukur, Senate President David Mark and INEC from declaring their seats vacant should they defect to another party. THISDAY was reliably informed yesterday that the senators who are set to defect from PDP met with the leadership of APC on Monday at the Kano Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, where the process of their defection was discussed.
A source from the meeting reliably told THISDAY that the forum was attended by Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; his counterpart in Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi; interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande; former Governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and former National Chairman of New PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.
According to him, the meeting was also attended by a 'full delegation' from Sokoto, Kano and Rivers States, adding that the senators will formally defect to APC when Senate resumes from the Christmas break in January.
He listed senators at the meeting to include Adamu Abdullahi (Nasarawa West), Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba North) and Ali Ndume (Borno South).
Others were Ahmad Maccido (Sokoto North), Umaru Dahiru (Sokoto South), Magnus Abe (Rivers South-east), Wilson Ake (Rivers West) and Shaba Lafiaji (Kwara North).
The source also said Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East) and Ahmed Zannah (Borno Central) would have been part of the meeting but 'they were out of town'.
According to him, even though 37 members of the House of Representatives defected to APC on Wednesday, the total number of the House members expected to defect were 47 as against the 57 who joined New PDP in September.
He said it had been easier gaining membership from the House because of the cooperation from the leadership, saying the reverse was the case in the Senate.
'We have a friendly leadership in the house unlike the Senate. It is not that the leadership of the Senate is not friendly but it is core PDP and it is conservative. So it has become more complex getting members from the Senate,' he said.
He, however, said the target of APC is to get 15 members from the Senate, adding that once that is guaranteed, many more will follow.
He also said Senator Isa Galaudu (Kebbi North), who was initially committed to the defection plan, has not been forthcoming in recent times because the state governor, Saidu Dakingari, is not favourably disposed to the idea of defecting to APC.
He also regretted that three senators from Jigawa -Abdulaziz Usman (Jigawa North-east), Danladi Sankara (Jigawa North-west) and Abdumumini Hassan (Jigawa South-west) - who were hitherto committed to the defection course, have suddenly developed cold feet following the decision of their state governor, Sule Lamido, to remain in PDP. He also said it had not been smooth sailing in Adamawa either because some party members have issues with the state governor, Murtala Nyako, adding that it was part of the reason members of the House from the state did not defect en masse as was the case in Sokoto and Kano on Wednesday.
The source also told THISDAY that the Chief Whip of the Senate, Bello Gwarzo, has also withdrawn from the defection plan because he is not in good terms with his governor, Kwankwaso. He added, however, that nothing has been ruled out yet since he could still change his mind if they eventually resolve their differences.
What was, however, strange was that Maccido was part of the meeting, having told this reporter through a telephone conversation a fortnight ago that he was not ready to defect, saying such a decision would not be a simple one except he had been given the go-ahead by his constituents.
Meanwhile, following the defection of the 37 PDP lawmakers to the APC, the House has again reiterated that it will not contemplate overhauling its leadership until the mandatory 181 majority is attained by the defectors and the Speaker’s attention is drawn to that.
Victor Ogene, the House Committee Deputy Chairman on Media, made this known yesterday when he briefed correspondents on matters arising in the lower chamber.
Ogene also indicated that the House would not be drawn into the controversy trailing the letter written to President Goodluck Jonathan by his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to the legislator, 'Democracy is all the time the rule of the majority,' stressing that although he welcomed the defection, the House could not change its leadership by going against its own rules, which is also enshrined in the constitution.
Quoting Section 50(6) of the constitution, Ogene noted that the Speaker and his deputy are empowered to regulate the affairs of members regarding whether or not they can defect when a subsisting court order forbids them to do so.