A human right activist/constitutional lawyer, Barr. Joseph Oloko, has lambasted politicians who defect from a political party which provided them the platform to contest and win to opposition party when they assumed office because they had minor issue which could have been resolved on a round table discussion; saying that there was no legal reason for defection.
Oloko made the assertion while reacting to recent the court order sacking Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi, and his deputy, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The constitutional lawyer lauded the judgment of Abuja Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo; stressing that the judge got it totally right and the judgment remains sacrosanct.
Oloko said, “Socketing to the centre is not a legal reason for defection.
“When you want to defect as a legislator, the provision of Section 109 of the constitution comes into play.
“It tells you how you must defect. For it to be successful, there must be division at the national level of your party.
“At the time they defected, the PDP was a very peaceful party without division and the National Chairman, Uche Secondus, was doing well.
“As at the time of defecting, we were made to understand that they were socketing to the centre, but socketing to the centre is not one of the conditions listed in Section 109 for defecting.”
Commenting further, Oloko said, “It is clear that the decision of Justice Ekwo is sacrosanct.
“People talk about Section 308, which gives immunity and refer to Atiku Abubakar’s case, but I want to say how the immunity was derived. What generated that immunity is it not the election?”
The constitutional lawyer further stated that the PDP as a party has thousands of card carrying members, stressing that the fact that one is made a leader of the party, that doesn’t make him more superior and more important than other card carrying members.”
Recall that Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, with his deputy, alongside his staunch supporter and about 18 law makers of the Cross River State House of Assembly defected from the opposition PDP to the ruling APC last year, claiming that they were socketing to the centre.
