It also warned the PDP not to go ahead with its diabolical plan, saying that, apart from being illegal and smacking of double standard, such a move has the potential to plunge the nation into chaos.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said that even as the PDP has continued to lick the mortal wound inflicted on it by the loss of five preeminent governors in one fell swoop, any attempt by the party (PDP) to act in desperation and declare the governors’ seats vacant will be met with an unprecedented show of people power that will end, once and for all, the impunity of the PDP and the presidency.
He said: “We have irrefutable evidence that the PDP is desperately shopping for a pliant judge who will be heavily induced to declare vacant the seats of the five governors who recently defected to the APC.
“We also have the name of the lawyers who have been retained by the PDP for this hatchet job. We are in possession of the various nefarious legal options being explored by the villainous duo of the PDP and the presidency but we hereby serve a strong notice to the duo that any attempt by anyone through any means other than what is provided for in Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, will not only have grave consequences but will leave the polity severely bruised.
‘’We wish to state unequivocally that, should the PDP go ahead with this plan, there will be widespread repercussions as the APC has resolved that, henceforth, every act of impunity of the PDP and the presidency will be met with stiff resistance in the form of a vociferous telegraphing of people power, the like of which has not been witnessed in these parts.”
APC also reminded the PDP and the presidency that a party that boasts of 16 governors... still counting... and has control of the National Assembly “has what it takes to use people power to stop acts of impunity, disregard for the laws of the land and barbaric brigandage - and that is exactly what the APC will do in the event of any unlawful declaration of the five governors’ seats vacant”.
‘’We recognise the efforts of the present chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) Aloma Mukhtar to sanitize the judiciary since she assumed the mantle of leadership, but she should not allow any black leg to reverse the gains that have been recorded on the altar of unmitigated avarice. This is because, if that happens, Nigerians will hold the judiciary vicariously liable for the catastrophic consequences that may follow,’’ it said.
Accusing the PDP of engaging in double standard, the APC said: ‘’For all of 14 years, elected members of the State Houses of Assembly as well as the National Assembly have been defecting mostly to the PDP and no court has ever declared their seats vacant.
‘’Late Senator Wahab Dosunmu and Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, then of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), blazed the trail when they defected to the PDP within a year of their election. Since then, scores of elected lawmakers at state and federal levels have defected to the PDP without any eyebrows being raised or anyone declaring their seats vacant.
‘’When governors Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State and Theodore Orji of Abia State, both elected on the platform of the PPA, and Governor Isah Yuguda of Bauchi State, who was elected on the platform of the ANPP, defected to the PDP, nobody declared their seats vacant.
‘’As a matter of fact, the PDP under late President Umaru Yar’Adua organised an elaborate reception to welcome Gov. Yuguda to the PDP. Why then should the case of the five PDP governors (still counting) who have joined the APC be different? Why is the PDP suddenly afraid of taking the same medicine it has been administering to others? Does it mean that all the bravado that has been displayed by the PDP, which says it is not bothered by the defection of the five governors, is just a facade to hide its deep pain at the monumental loss?’’ the party queried.
It also asked the PDP and the presidency if they could allow a rare moment of introspection to go and read - and be guided by – the ruling of the Supreme Court after the PDP attempted to make then Vice President Atiku Abubakar lose his seat and to also strip him of his privileges following his defection to the ACN.
This same drama played out in 2009 when the former governor of Zamfara State, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, defected from ANPP to the PDP. His former party dragged him before the Federal High Court in Gusau demanding that he be asked to vacate his seat since he left the party on which ticket he was elected.
But, in a landmark judgement, Justice Adamu Bello on October 12, 2009, dismissed the suit.
The court held that the action of the defendants was not illegal going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and past verdicts of the Supreme Court.
Speaking to reporters after the judgment, lead lawyer to the defendants, Muhammed Adoke (SAN), now the AGF, hailed the ruling as one of the best in the country, saying the decision would put to rest key political issues confronting the country.
It is not true – Presidency
When contacted over the matter, special adviser to the president on political affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, said the claim of the APC is unfounded and baseless.
He said; “The APC should know that President Jonathan is one man who has shown respect for the Nigerian judiciary. The impunity and autocracy that characterise APC are not part of us. In any case, the alarm raised by the party does not only ridicules the revered judicial system but an attempt to drag the institution into politics.”
“Nigerians by now know what the APC represents – deceit and desperation. That allegation is baseless and uncalled for. The APC should concentrate on how to integrate their new entrants and stop chasing shadows,” Gulak said.
Source: Leadership
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