THE Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDPGF) has commended the judiciary for the recent judgement asking the 37 members of the House of Representatives who defected from the PDP to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to vacate their seats.
The governors have therefore asked the lawmakers to comply with the court’s decision and give up their seats as the platform for their election belongs to the ruling party.
A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola had given an order of perpetual injunction restraining the lawmakers from effecting any leadership change in the House of Representatives, saying that they no longer had any business, morally and legally, to stay in the House of Representatives.
He ruled that they should honourably resign from their seats as members, having moved to another political party while their tenure had not yet expired.
Emerging from a two-day meeting in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state on Tuesday night, the PDP governors advised the defected members of the lower house of the National Assembly to respect the rule of law as it urged the APC not to play politics with the judiciary.
According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting which was read by the forum’s chairman of Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, any member of the PDP who defected and failed to return to the party must lose his seat.
The PDP governors congratulated Mr. Ayo Fayose and Senator Iyiola Omisore who emerged the PDP governorship candidates for the forthcoming elections in Ekiti and Osun states respectively and promised to work assiduously with them in their states to ensure that they achieve victories at the polls.
Both candidates were received by the governors in the Jigawa State capital on Wednesday.
The forum appealed to governorship aspirants who contested for the tickets with them to close ranks and work with the party’s candidates and work for the success of PDP in their states.
Mr Godswill Akpabio explained that the party would do everything democratically within the law to recapture the two states for now and the others in the 2015 general election.
Mr Akpabio maintained that “We are also appealing to the candidates that emerged to embrace the aspirants that contested with them for the success of the party.
“The forum also congratulated the party chairman for the successful conduct of the primary elections in the two states.
“We facilitate with the PDP over the victory at the high court on the defection of 37 law makers and it is a victory for the rule of law,” he said.
The meeting in Dutse, which had in attendance 18 governors and three deputy governors, was the second one outside Abuja.
The next meeting of the forum has been scheduled for Bauchi on the 8th and 9th of May 2014.
Source: Tribune
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