Defection: Niger Assembly declares 2 members’ seats vacant

Bashir Abdullahi Isa Lokogoma and Nazeer Abdullahi, State House of Assembly members, representing Wushishi and Rijau constituencies respectively, defected from PDP to the APC.
Declaring their seats vacant, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Barrister Adamu Usman said, the action of the State Assembly was based on the letter written to it by the state chapter of PDP confirming that the two members defected to APC.
The two affected members who were not allowed to speak during the boisterous session at the assembly’s chamber were ordered by the speaker to be walked out by the Sergeant-at-Arms, despite claiming to have secured a court order restraining the state Assembly of taking any action against them.
A letter written to the state Assembly by the state PDP and made available to newsmen reads in part: “Information reaching the state secretariat of the party indicates that the two members of the state Assembly above mentioned (Bashir Abdullahi Isa Lokogoma and Nazeer Abdullahi) have defected and abandoned the PDP which provided them the platform for their election and joined the opposition APC party. The state working committee (SWC) of the party has investigated and found the information to be true.
“The SWC is of the firm view that the action of the said state assembly members were taken without recourse to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and therefore uses this medium to call on the Speaker to invoke the relevant provision of the 1999 Constitution which empowers him to remedy this kind of invasion and brazen affront to our constitution,” it stated.
The speaker who denied knowledge of any court order said, it took the assembly this long to declare the seats of the two members vacant because they did not have any fact to rely upon but with a letter from PDP confirming their defection the assembly had no option but to act in accordance to the law of the land.
Speaking, the affected members both described the action of the assembly as a clear case of impunity saying it is unfortunate for lawmakers to act in total disregard to court order.
The two former members added that arrangement by their lawyers was in top gear to challenge the state assembly’s declaration before a court.