The  rift between the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, yesterday took a new twist as 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike of the 32-member House of Assembly and led by Martins Amaehwule, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers cited division within the PDP as the primary reason for their defection to APC. They sat under tight security at the entrance of the Assembly complex along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt around 8am where the decision was taken.
While the APC in Rivers through its spokesperson Chibuike Ikenga said it is open to receive more defectors from PDP in the state, describing the defection of the 27 lawmakers as a welcome development, the PDP national leadership has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) demanding fresh elections to replace the 27 Rivers lawmakers. This was made known in a press statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

According to Ologunagba, the seats of the defected lawmakers have become vacant owing to the fact that they contested elections on the platform of the party in their respective constituencies.

Citing the party’s constitution, he said: “The seats of the respective 27 former lawmakers have become vacant by virtue of the provision of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

Labor Party on the other hand has urged the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly to declare vacant the seats of the 27 members who dumped the party that sponsored their election.

A statement by Rivers LP chairman, Hilda Dokubo, said: “We recall that in 2022, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sacked 16 Ebonyi House of Assembly members for defection. The court held that the movement was in breach of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which provides that defecting legislators are not allowed to retain their seats in the legislature.
 
“The same fate befell 18 members of the Cross River House of Assembly and two members of the House of Representatives who were asked to vacate their seats for defecting from their party last year.

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) in its own reaction called on President Bola Tinubu to prevail on Wike and his loyalists to stop their moves aimed at sacking the Rivers governor, Fubara. This is as INC condemned what it labeled as open support by security agencies for the Amaewhule-led faction of the lawmakers loyal to Wike, whom they gave protection to hold a sitting against a subsisting court order requiring all parties to maintain the status quo and to take no official actions until further notice.