Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has maintained that the lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have forfeited their positions in the legislative body.
Falana, speaking on Channels Television's Sunday Politics, emphasized that unless there is a demonstration of division within the political party that sponsored their election, lawmakers cannot remain in the legislative arm if they decamp to another party.
Citing the constitution, Falana stated, "The whole idea is that the constitution set out to ban political prostitution on the part of legislators."
He noted that there is a court order restraining the 25 lawmakers from representing themselves as legislators in the state and prohibiting the speaker from identifying himself as the speaker of the house.
Falana highlighted a Supreme Court ruling that legislators cannot decamp and remain members of a legislative house in Nigeria unless they can demonstrate a division in their party on a national level.
The crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his godfather, Nyesom Wike, began when the Assembly, predominantly composed of Wike's loyalists, attempted to impeach the governor. In response, 27 lawmakers aligned with Wike defected from the ruling PDP to the APC, led by Martin Amaewhule, citing internal division within the PDP as the main reason for their defection.
