The Abia State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately declare the seat of Hon Chris Nkwonta vacant.
NewsNGR reports that Hon. Nkwonta representing the Ukwa West/East Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP, on Wednesday, October 2, defected to the All Progressive Congress, APC.
According to the letter of defection as read by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas, the defecting Lawmaker cited division within his party, the PDP, as the reason for his action.
But reacting to the defection in a statement signed by its Media Adviser, Jude Ndukwe, on Thursday, the PDP called on the National Electoral Umpire to take steps to conduct a fresh election to fill the vacant seat.
The Abia PDP denied the claims of the existence of factions and or crises within the Party.
The statement read in parts, “Following the defection of Hon Chris Nkwonta, the representative of Ukwa East/Ukwa West Federal Constituency at the Federal House of Representatives, from the PDP to the APC on the floor of the House on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024, the PDP in Abia State hereby calls on INEC to immediately comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution by declaring the seat vacant and conduct a new election within the constitutionally stipulated time to replace the defected member.
“This call on INEC is for the electoral body to comply with the provisions of Section 68(1)(g) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) since Hon. Nkwonta’s defection did not meet the conditions precedent to the defection of a federal lawmaker as provided for by our laws.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 68(1)(g) states inter alia: “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected;
“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.
“It is clear that the PDP has no factions either at the federal or state level, a situation which renders Nkwonta’s defection illegal. Given the above, we call on INEC to conduct a new election to fill the now vacant Ukwa East/Ukwa West Federal Constituency seat”.
Hon Nkwonta had since been appointed the Chairman of the newly constituted House Committee on South East Development Commission (SEDC) immediately after his defection to APC.