Three members of the State House of Assembly and one member of the House of Representatives left the PDP to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the PDP’s Kaduna State Chapter has requested that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declare their seats vacant.
The PDP characterized the defections as a flagrant betrayal of the confidence that the people had placed in them, especially by sitting lawmakers who were elected on its platform.
The PDP demanded that the members leave their positions immediately, calling the MPs’ defection to the APC undesirable and unlawful in a statement released by Maria Dogo, the party’s publicity secretary for the state.
The PDP urged the Speakers of the House of Representatives and the Kaduna State House of Assembly to declare the seats of the four lawmakers vacant and notify INEC to hold bye-elections, citing Sections 68(1)(g) and 109 of the Constitution, which stipulate that serving legislators who defect to another party must resign their seats.
“We consider these defections intolerable, even if we recognize that every Nigerian has the fundamental right to freedom of association.
“There is no division or split in our party leadership at the national level, so we assure the people of Kaduna State, especially those from the affected constituencies, that the PDP leadership will invoke the provisions of the constitution to recover our mandates,” the party said.
The party claimed to be the favored option of the great majority of Kaduna State residents and to be unfazed by the defections.
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