The Rivers State Government and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the seat of the 27 members of the state House of Assembly that defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) remain vacant as declared by Edison Ehie, the leader of the four lawmakers loyal for Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The Public Relations Officer of the PDP in the state, Sidney Tambari Gbara, in a statement on Sunday, noted that the lawmakers failed to obey the law, adding that their seats remain vacant.
Gbara said: “We are all aware of what is going on in the state and those who are alleging that there is a crisis in PDP that led to their defection should prove it.
“I don’t know where the problem is. They are in a better position to explain if there is a problem in the party or not.
“Yes, President Tinubu has done so well to appoint some Rivers sons into positions. As it is, we should all be happy as Rivers people. We have seen appointments, FCT Minister, EDFA, NDDC, Federal Commissioner and others and we believe we will get more.
“On the issue of the decamped lawmakers talking about quorum and no quorum, those who defected, their seats have been declared vacant. The truth is that the state must move forward.”
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Also speaking in the same vein, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said the lawmakers were caught up with the law they failed to obey.
Johnson said: “The interpretation in Section 109 ( 1) (g) and the form that every parliamentarian signs clearly states that if you move from your party to another, you lose your seat. The law stands.
“The law you fail to obey cannot protect you. The 27 lawmakers, elected by their constituents, decided to walk out of their constitutional responsibility. They went out of their assignment on their own volition, they said they had finished. They took the flag of APC. They bid PDP bye. What are they doing in court?
“They have violated the law and left what they are supposed to do as lawmakers. They did what they shouldn’t do.
“They signed a form for Parliamentarians that when you leave your party, that you will never be a lawmaker. They violated it. Amaehwule and his co-travelers signed the form.
“Saying that they are still members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is a wide goose chase. They are no longer lawmakers.”