After the defection of a Zamfara rep from the PDP to the APC, and it was announced on the floor, the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu simply accused Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila of trashing the constitution.
Okechukwu accused the Speaker of ignoring section 68 of the 1999 Constitution.
The PDP rep cited sections 68 of the constitution which provides that a member may lose his seat if he defects to another party with division in his party.
“A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if –
“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; Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”
The Speaker however fired back, warning him that being recognized to speak is a privilege, and that that the job of interpretation is for the judiciary, not the PDP rep.
Gbajabiamila asked the PDP to approach the court to seek redress.