By John Dike, Osogbo
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking the removal of four federal lawmakers from Osun State who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmakers in question are Senators Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East) and Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central), along with House of Representatives members Taofeek Ajilesoro (Ife Federal Constituency) and Omirin Olusanya (Atakumosa/Ilesa Federal Constituency).
In separate suits filed on August 20 by PDP’s legal counsel, Raphael Oyewole, the party is invoking Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that lawmakers must vacate their seats if they defect from the political party under which they were elected — unless that party is experiencing a division, merger, or faction.
The PDP is asking the court to declare the seats of the four lawmakers vacant, arguing that their defection was unconstitutional since no division or faction existed within the party to justify such a move.
Also named as defendants in the suits are Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, who are listed as second defendants in the cases concerning the senators and House members, respectively. The National Assembly, its Clerk, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are also listed as third to fifth defendants.
The PDP is seeking several reliefs from the court, including:
A declaration that the lawmakers’ seats became vacant the moment they resigned from the party;
An order of mandamus directing Senate President Akpabio and Speaker Abbas to formally declare the affected seats vacant;
An order directing INEC to conduct bye-elections in the four constituencies;
An injunction stopping further payment of salaries and allowances to the defectors; and
A recovery order for all earnings and entitlements received by the lawmakers since their defection.
The party insists that the legal action is necessary to enforce constitutional accountability and ensure elected officials remain faithful to the mandate given to them by the electorate under the PDP platform.
The suits are yet to be assigned to a judge as of the time of this report.
