Five lawmakers of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been sacked.
The affected lawmakers are Nse Ntuen, who represented Essien Udim State Constituency; Otobong Ndem, Mkpat Enin State Constituency; Victor Udofia, Ikono State Constituency; Gabriel Toby, Etim Ekpo/Ika State Constituency and Idongesit Ituen, Itu State Constituency who was earlier sacked by a Federal High Court.
The speaker, Mr. Onofiok Luke, who announced their sack during the rescheduled plenary on Monday, presided over the assembly.
He directed Mrs Mandu Umoren, the clerk of the house, to serve the sacked members the notice and banged the gavel three times to finally seal the matter.
Unlike the removal of Mr. Ituen which followed a federal high court judgment, there is no court ruling or judgment yet on the other four lawmakers.
The speaker’s action is said to be in line with Section 109, sub-section 1g, of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended.
Meanwhile, the PDP in the state has thrown its weight behind the leadership of the state assembly for declaring the lawmakers’ seats vacant.
“As a law-abiding Party, we commend the Speaker for respecting the constitution without fear or favour,” the PDP spokesperson in the state, Ini Ememobong, said in a statement on Monday.
“In our state, this scenario is not nouveau, as the seats of the assemblymen who defected to APC in 2014, had been declared vacant.
“The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has always been a very law-abiding institution and therefore under the current Speakership of Comrade Onofiok Luke, it cannot afford to dwell in illegality.
“We advise the opposition in the state to come to the realization that our state and nation operate under the rule of law and abhors the rule of might. We can assure them that as this evil plot failed, today, so shall their planned ‘federal might’ backed Warsaw invasion fail,” Mr Ememobong said.
