The court ruled that the only ways to prove a defection are through the party membership register, a membership card, and the fulfillment of all party membership criteria by the involved individuals.
However, in a New Central TV interview, Sogbeye Eli stated that Amaewhule and the other 26 lawmakers publicly switched to the APC, making it impossible for anybody to claim they are still PDP members.
He noted that before a defection is considered legitimate, there are no requirements under the constitution regarding the actions that must be completed or the availability of a political party’s membership registry.
In his words, “Nobody could have said they are still members of the PDP. They defected in the open. And the constitution did not say you must take step one or step two before a defection is deemed to be valid. No. I stand to be corrected.”
“It’s not in any part of the constitution that for a defection to be valid, for instance, in the case of Amaewhule against the House of Assembly that they have to bring the Labour Party register before the court, and then bring the one of the AC of those days before the court agreed that the man has defected to the AC. No, that’s not the law.”
“If you defect from a political party upon which platform you are elected to another while your tenure is still subsisting, that’s what the law says; you will lose your seats.” READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>