By Daniel Dafe
Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Olorogun Arthur Akpowowo says there was nothing to worry about regarding Hon. Erhiatake-Ibori Suenu’s defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Akpowowo said this while responding to questions from Oasis Magazine during an exclusive chat recently.
He added, “It is within her rights to move from party A to party B”.
Recall that the federal lawmaker recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and defected to the APC.
Continuing, Akpowowo said he is sad with the development, “being someone that campaigned with her hand-by-hand and from place to place in the last campaign period before the election.”
In his words, “I feel sad because it goes to show that we worked in vain.”
He continued: “Politics in Nigeria has become terribly bad. So bad that people who sought for office under a platform can just leave the platform. However, there is a provision in the constitution that is supposed to take care of such movements because the constitution says that when you leave your platform that fielded you and helped you win an election you are to resign from office if you defect from the party. Since the restoration of democratic structures in May 1999, there have been cases of serving legislators defecting to another party other than the party under whose umbrella they contested and won elections.
This act is known as Cross Carpeting. In the Nigerian political space, it is popularly known as decamping or defection. The issue of the defection of serving legislators had become a stigma, an embarrassment, and a form of dishonour to parties that sponsor candidates to victory in an election. To reduce the rate of defection of serving legislators, the Nigerian Constitution was further amended to checkmate how serving legislators jump from one party to another, particularly after being elected into office under a particular party.
“Following the general elections held in February and March 2023, there have been cases of defection. Under review in this article are the cases of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, representing Anambra South Senatorial Constituency, who crossed from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to the All Progressives Party (APC), and recently, the case of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who moved from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC). In Nigeria, cross-carriage had been a regular practice by serving legislators, governors, and even a vice president at some points. Despite the amendment to the Constitution, legislators still flout the express provision with reckless abandon, based primarily on the political advantage they get once they defect to another party.
“The Constitution of Nigeria is very clear on the issue of serving legislators moving from one political party to another. Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution provides, thus: “(1) 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…” “(g) 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;”
He stated further “The Courts have made several pronouncements on this provision and Hon. Erhiatake will not be different. If Nigeria was a country where rules and laws are obeyed, I am sure that by now she would have resigned so that she can face PDP in an election. I am also aware that the party has declared her seat vacant and in court to retrieve it because she won it under our platform and it belongs to us. The honourable thing to do is to resign and let INEC conduct another election so that we can know whether it was PDP that won the election or not.”
Furthermore, he said: “Going forward, there is nothing to worry about. Politics is very dynamic and people are free to move here and there. We had our bad times, now we have our good times and we will not allow it to slip by for any reason. PDP is strong in Ethiope East and we are going to consolidate our victory of 2023 and by 2027, we will collectively win Ethiope East again.”
