Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, has stated that if Enyinnaya Abaribe, the senator for Abia South, is no longer a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), his seat should be declared vacant.
After Abaribe and eight other senators defected to the African Democratic Congress, Bamidele made the statement on Thursday during plenary.
At least nine senators from the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, and APGA defected to the ADC, according to earlier reports.
The development has sparked discussions in the Senate over the constitutional ramifications for the impacted senators as well as the legitimacy of the defections.
In response to the event, Bamidele emphasized that the constitution expressly addressed circumstances in which elected officials depart from their political party.
By God’s grace, I’m more than just a lawyer—I’m a lifesaver. I am familiar with this law. Senator Abaribe’s current predicament was anticipated under Section 68(1b), he stated.
He claims that the legislation stipulates that a lawmaker’s seat may become vacant if conditions develop that would have prevented them from running for office under a specific political party.
It refers to any other situation that would have prevented you from being elected as a member, such as serving for a political party. It’s rather evident,” Bamidele continued.
The Senate Leader encouraged Abaribe to change his mind and retract the letter announcing his defection despite his stance.
He reiterated, “Let’s give Senator Abaribe a chance to withdraw his letter, and then we continue to see how we can manage having him in this chamber.”
Bamidele went on to say that MPs who do not support either the majority or minority blocs cannot be accommodated by the Senate.
He does not currently belong to any political party. Unless we are going to create a third aisle for those who don’t belong to either the majority or the minority, which the constitution has stated must not happen, he is neither a member of the majority nor the minority side,” he stated.
