PDP describes Rivers lawmakers’ move as ‘defection from APC to APC’
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to reports that some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have again announced their defection, insisting that the development amounts to a “defection from APC to APC”.
In a statement issued on today, Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the party described the lawmakers as political “puppets” who have continued to act at the behest of what it referred to as their “paymaster and demigod”.
According to the PDP, the lawmakers had earlier announced their defection from the party but later recanted their decision, a development which the opposition party says has already been widely reported and acknowledged.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” the statement said.
The party added that the actions of the legislators were a mockery of democracy and the legislature, warning that history would judge them harshly.
Describing the latest announcement as a mere political drama, the PDP said the lawmakers did not truly leave the All Progressives Congress (APC), but only reaffirmed their loyalty to it. “So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” the statement read.
The PDP also disclosed that it would be taking legal steps to invoke relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in order to reclaim the mandates the lawmakers allegedly secured under the party’s platform before defecting.
Meanwhile, the party has urged its members and supporters in Rivers State to remain calm and loyal, assuring them that efforts were already in motion to reposition and rebuild the party based on the principles of inclusiveness, fairness and equity.
