The CSO argued that the move by the lawmakers was unconstitutional as they were originally elected to represent the people of the state under PDP.
By Ademu Usman Idakwo
A Civil Society Organisation, The International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, has declared its resolve to engage the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who recently switched their allegiance to the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to court.
The lawmakers who were said to be loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Nyesom Wike defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC in the ensuing political turmoil between Governor Sminalayi Fubara and his estranged godfather, Wike.
The human rights group argued that the move by the lawmakers was unconstitutional as they were originally elected to represent the people of the state under PDP.
The organisation believes that by defecting to another party, the lawmakers have violated the trust placed in them by the people and that it is unlawful for them to continue serving under their previous mandate while advocating for a different manifesto.
The 27 lawmakers had cited the crisis rocking the state’s House of Assembly as the reason for their defection to the APC.
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However, the Chancellor of the Civil Organization, Chief Jackson Omenazu, said the failure of the lawmakers to comply with the provisions of the constitution would be translated as unlawful.
He noted that the group would be interested in using protest to demand justice for the people of the state whose mandate ‘was about to be openly manipulated through a selfish political interest.’
Omenagu warned the Federal Government led by the APC to desist from promoting disorder and to disassociate itself from benefiting from criminal activities and the audacity of certain People from the state.
In a statement made available to journalists on Saturday morning, the right activist reiterated that the organisation would remain steadfast in upholding constitutional authority, adding that the voting public would now expect responsible behaviour from the political leaders.
“By constitutional provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the 27 parliamentarians in Rivers State who abandoned their mandate given to them by political parties have seized to be parliamentarians.
“The moral position of the constitution dictates that the people have been made fools at last.
“Hence there’s a need to seek a fresh mandate to determine their acceptance based on their newfound manifesto.
“This above-the-law mentality should stop forthwith. No citizen is a half citizen and we all have equal rights. The few who are temporarily privileged shouldn’t in any way take others as fools.
“The International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights demands the immediate vacation of the parliamentary seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the defected parliamentarians. There should be no middle ground about it; a mandate abandoned is a mandate lost,” the statement read.
He, therefore, told the 27 legislators that non-compliance with the law’s provisions would result in a prolonged legal dispute between his organisation and the affected lawmakers.
