Nigerian lawmakers have made diverse
comments on the merger of the new Peoples
Democratic Party (nPDP) and the All
Progressives Alliance (APC), a development
expected to generated unexpected debates
related to its consequences in the plenaries of the upper and lower chambers.

The merger will be a source of worry for lawmakers,
as they will have to consider the legal implications if
they decide to move with the governors of the states
they represent. The law may not have implications on
the governor but on a lawmaker, the individual stands
a possibility of losing his seat.

After the declaration of the merger on Tuesday by the
chairman of the defunct nPDP, Mr. Kawu Baraje, some
lawmakers hailed the decision, describing it as “the
best decision the aggrieved group of governors
should take”.

Lawmakers, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
the party the governors broke away from, insisted
that the merger would not in any way affect the party.

Some other lawmakers said that the merger was long
expected while others did not see it coming. Other reactions stressed the fact that something had
been brewing beneath the surface and had finally
erupted with the merger.

Legal Consequence

Commenting on the legal consequence, a lawyer, Mr.
Bamidele Aturu, said that any lawmaker that is part of
the transition may lose his seat.

“Well, for governors there is really no legal
consequence because once you are elected as a
governor of a state it is assumed that you have a
state-wide mandate of the constituency, which is a
state to govern and he has been elected in his own
personal capacity as such.

“Although, the Supreme Court, in Governor Rotimi
Amaechi’s case made it clear that when you are
elected, you are being elected on the platform of a
party and it is the party that won the election.

“But the truth of the matter is that when it comes to
the consequences of leaving your old party to another
party that Supreme Court’s decision cannot hold
sway. There is no provision that says that if you move
over to another party you will lose you position,” Mr
Aturu stated.

He said that, legally speaking, the governors would
remain governors of their respective states and
would not be affected.

“But if you are a legislator and you move to another
party and you cannot show that your old party has
been racked with division, then, of cause, you will lose
your seat by virtue of the constitutional provision that
is relevant to this matter,” he explained.

source:www.informng.com/mixed-reactions-trail-new-pdp-apc-merger/