...Wants fresh elections to fill 27 vacant seats in RSHA

A former Minister of Information and leader of the Pan Niger-Delta Forum ( PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, on Thursday appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) to avert a looming constitutional crisis by urgently conducting by-elections to fill up the 27 seats which are deemed vacant at the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) as a result of the mass defection of some lawmakers from the political party that sponsored them to another political party when there was no crisis in their previous political party

In an open letter addressed to the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu. the elder statesman expressed concern. that INEC is yet to carry out its statutory function of conducting the by-election to fill the seats more than a year after these lawmakers dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and embraced the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party in the country.

Clark said that the action of the 27 ex-lawmakers contravened the Nigerian Constitution and sent a wrong signal to the political ecosystem if INEC continued to shirk from its responsibility of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacant seats.

“Section 109 1(g) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended states that: “Being a person whose election to the House of Assembly 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 nation’s Constitution is the grund norm. Its words and letters are sacrosanct and binding on everyone and everything, it supersedes all.
Section (1) states that:

“This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
“The seats of the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been vacant for a long time, more than one year after the former holders vacated, thus depriving the people of the affected constituencies of representation in the State House of Assembly,” he said.

Clark maintained that
going by the actions of those 27 persons, they have automatically and immediately, lost their seats without reversal. He recalled that in compliance with constitutional provisions, the then (new) Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, wrote to INEC, informing the electoral umpire of the vacant seats but nothing has been done in that regard till this day.

Clark lamented that throughout these months, the leader of 27, Martin Amawhule and his colleagues have been parading themselves as members of RSHA, attempting to turn the issue on its head, that they did not defect. According to him, they have been shopping from one court to the other, for court judgments and rulings that could favour their actions.

“These persons ought to be Honourable members. This is quite unfortunate for a nation that has laws spelt out for our living.

Their defection is not in doubt. As a matter of fact, Martins Amawhule and the 26 others, should be prosecuted for perjury. They lied on oath. In July 2024, he tendered a sworn Affidavit stating their defection in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/168/2023 between Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule & others vs INEC and others. Number 9 of the Affidavit states:

“That the Plaintiffs contested their respective elections on the platform of the 2nd Defendant and had remained members of the latter until 11/12/2023 when they (Plaintiffs) left 2nd Defendant and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a result of a serious division in the 2nd Defendant”.

Perjury is a serious crime with severe penalties. Unfortunately, we are in a society where people are treated not in accordance with the laws of the land, but in accordance with whom they know and are connected to.

“The same Nigeria Police Force that should arrest and prosecute Martins Amawhule, are guarding him,” he alleged.