Defection: We Will Not Vacate Our Seats – 37 Reps

                             

In defiance of what it described as a misleading court ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives has declared that the 37 members who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not vacate their seats.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus which held a press briefing yesterday in the National Assembly, minority whip, Hon Samson Osagie (APC, Lagos) said that the part of the ruling that mentioned the lawmakers vacating their seats was a mere “opinion” since the case before the court was only to stop a change of leadership in the House.
He also disclosed that the affected lawmakers have already served the leadership of the House of Representatives, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal with notice of appeal to maintain status quo pending the outcome of the appeal.

The lawmaker said , “We want to assure members of the public that there is no court judgment before the House directing any member of the APC to vacate his or her seat”.

He continued, “A section of the media and indeed the public have been misled by the court ruling into believing that the said judgment has effectively terminated the tenure of office of the affected members. This is not only untrue, but also a mere obiter dicta expressed by a judge who veered off the course of the case before him in order to do the bidding of the ruling party. At best the judgment has turned law on its head and cannot stand”.

“For avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally on behalf of our members that the import of yesterday ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of Principal Officers of the House nothing more, nothing less.    Every other pronouncement by the Judge as to the status of our 37 members of the House were mere opinion.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives and its principal officers have approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja asking it to set aside the verdict of Justice Ademola over the leadership change in the House.

The speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha and the lawmakers are the appellant in the case.

In a notice of appeal filed in Abuja yesterday by their lawyer, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), the appellants faulted Justice Ademola’s reasoning and urged the appellate court to set aside the verdict.

Sources:Leadership