Rivers assembly | Photo: @Big_Sinudo on X
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the defection of 16 members of the Rivers state house of assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Two days before the defection, the 32-member Rivers assembly passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, urging him to seek re-election.
In a statement issued on Friday, Ini Ememobong, PDP spokesperson, said the lawmakers had previously announced a switch to the APC but later recanted, accusing them of acting at the behest of a “paymaster”.
Ememobong said the legislators had consistently demonstrated that they were “political puppets” working against democratic norms.
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“The members of the Rivers state house of assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” the statement reads.
“They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made a mockery of the legislature. So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC.”
He said the party would initiate legal action to reclaim the seats, arguing that the lawmakers were elected on its platform and had now “surreptitiously switched to another”.
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Ememobong urged its supporters in Rivers to remain calm while it works to “rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity”.
