Many including Cleverly in his post have tried to justify the defection of Hon Aminu Waziri to the APC without presenting both sides of the argument

Cleverly was right when he quoted the section below to back his argument ,

" Chapter V, Part 1. Of the Nigerian constitution which deal with the Composition OfNational Assembly sections 47 -50 of the Constitution Of
The Federal Republic Of Nigeria states as follows


There shall be a National Assembly for the Federation which
shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

48. The Senate shall consist of three Senators from each
State and one from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

49. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the House
of Representatives shall consist of three hundred and sixty
members representing constituencies of nearly equal
population as far as possible, provided that no constituency
shall fall within more than one State.

50. (1) There shall be:-
(a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who
shall be elected by the members of that House from
among themselves ; and

(b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of
that House from among themselves.

(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the
Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives
shall vacate his office -
(a) if he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the
House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise
than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the
House of Representatives; or
(b) when the House of which he was a member first sits after
any dissolution of that House; or
(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate
or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by
the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the
members of that House.

However, that is just one side of the issue,

Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution, also provides that a member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected or provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of division in the political, party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factor by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

You don't need an Oxford dictionary to understand these provision ,

Constitutionally Tambuwal and his cohorts on both divide ceased to be members of the house of representatives the day the announced their defection!



I have these few questions for those insisting that Tambuwal should not loose his position

1. Where in the world does a minority party in the legislature produce the leader of parliament ?


2. Will APC as a party ever allow a PDP minority to preside over a house in which they are the majority?

3.Is it morally right to interpret a part of the constitution that suits you and pour ink over the part that does not ?

4. Can a member who is legally no longer a part of a legislature continue to parade himself as its leader?


Nigerians know the truth, the constitution is explicit, members who defected, from the APC to the PDP are as guilty as Tambuwal

As things stand today the PDP with a clear majority (189 to 159 of the APC) in the Nigerian House of representative should produce the speaker of the house, anything to the contrary will not only set a dangerous precedence but will also create a fertile platform for anarchy and instability.

May God help us to help ourselves .

God Bless Nigeria

Oche Otorkpa

www.twitter.com/ochejoseph

insightfull....

PDP till Tambuwal does the needful