Peoples Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives have protested the defection of Imo rep, Raphael Igbokwe, who announced his decision on floor of the House.The defection, which had Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha in attendance, occurred on Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Igbokwe informed the House that he actually defected to the APC since January 2017 and had been paying his membership dues to the APC.
“You will recall that the judgment of the Supreme Court that finally resolved the leadership crisis was delivered in July 2017, six months after I joined the APC,” part of his defection letter read.
It was reported that Igbokwe’s announcement stirred a protest by members of the PDP, especially when Igbokwe cited divisions in the party as his reason for dumping the PDP.
The PDP lawmakers, who were led by the Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello, asked the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, not to allow the defection to stand.Bello demanded that Dogara should ignore the reason given by Igbokwe and instead declare his seat vacant.
Citing Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution, Bello noted that Igbokwe was insulting the sensibilities of members by citing “divisions” as a reason for leaving the PDP.
Bello, who is from Gombe State, added, “Mr. Speaker, the PDP is one family and we don’t have any division. Our case was settled by the Supreme Court and a member cannot come here and be telling the House that the PDP has divisions. It is not true.”
Igbokwe was the sixth member of the PDP to leave the party this year, with the APC being the main beneficiary.His defection cut the numerical Reactions strength of the PDP to about 119.
More members of the PDP in the House, including the Chairman, House Committee on Ethics/Privileges, Nicholas Ossai, supported Bello, urging Dogara to ignore Igbokwe.
Ossai also argued that the Speaker ought to have caused Igbokwe’s claim that there were divisions in the PDP to be investigated before allowing it to stand.
Amid the protests staged by the PDP members of the House of Reps, the Speaker, Dogara ruled in favour of the defection.
He noted that his understanding of Section 68(2) of the constitution would also imply that the House must first pass a resolution to decide whether to declare Igbokwe’s seat vacant or not.
“In this case, it will even be the decision of the majority and a losing battle already,” the Speaker ruled.
The aggrieved lawmakers later held a news conference where Bello again restated her earlier position, which she presented on the floor. The lawmakers were joined by other minority party lawmakers from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Labour Party and the Accord Party.
News Credit:pulse ng
