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TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has emphasized that the recent defection of some of its members at the National Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not as a result of political crisis in the party, as being wrongly speculated in some quarters.
State Party Chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor said this in reaction to the defection of
Ephraim Nwuzi, the member representing Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Akawor stated that defection is a normal scenario in Nigerian politics, adding that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, allows people in expressing their fundamental human rights to association.
He stated that people can move from one political party to another when their is crisis in such political party, maintaining that those who defected only acted based on their personal interest.
The party chairman emphasized that there is no known crisis at any level of PDP led by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
He, however, informed that, the party had since received a letter from Nwuzi, informing the party of his decision to change his political affiliation from the PDP to APC.
The party noted that the decision was taken after an elaborate consultation with his constituents and stakeholders in his Constituency, maintaining that Nwuzi’s letter corroborated the fact that there was no crisis in the party as being his reason for defection.
Akawor argued that since the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria recognizes political crisis as the only reason for leaving one political party to another, PDP would formally write to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to declare his seat vacant in the National Assembly.
The chairman thanked the people of the State for their support for the present administration.
