The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 said that the directive by the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State to its 27 lawmakers to commence impeachment proceeding against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has clearly shown arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State.
It therefore counsel the APC to perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State, stressing that such would amount to a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly.
The PDP specifically said that such reckless and unwarranted statement by the APC Chairman in Rivers State exposes the vile desperation of the APC, which is roundly rejected in Rivers State, to use violence, coercion and bullying to undermine the WILL of the people and forcefully take over the State.
It further said that the fact that the Rivers State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceeding against a duly elected State Governor further confirmed APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution.
The position of the PDP were expressed at a press conference in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, who also said that the individuals that the Rivers State APC Chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.
In the words of Ologunagba; “These individuals, by virtue of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) have since vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly after their defection from the PDP, the political Party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The PDP which spoke while reacting to the declaration by the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the APC in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, described his comments as delusional and hallucinatory, stressing that; “For emphasis, Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that:
“a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (g) 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…,” the PDP said.
It further stated that it should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory, adding that the import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected have vacated their seat by reason of that defection.
The PDP stressed that the unlawful directive by the Rivers State APC Chairman to the 27 individuals to commence an impeachment proceeding against the Governor is therefore a brazen call for anarchy as it amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic Order in clear violation of Section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The PDP also said; “For clarity, Section 1 Sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides;
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
Accordingly, the PDP drew the attention of the Inspector General of Police to the subversive utterances of the APC Chairman in Rivers State which is capable of triggering crisis and derailing the Democratic Order in the country.
“The APC Chairman in Rivers State should come to terms with the fact that Rivers State is home to PDP and that the people of Rivers State are not ready to put their destiny in the hands of a corrupt, oppressive and anti-people Special Purpose Vehicle like the APC.
“The PDP expressed appreciation to the people of Rivers State for always standing with it and urged them to continue to resist the APC in its vicious attempt to inject violence and destabilize the State,” PDP said.
