Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, A Senior Advocate of Nigeria has advised the Attorney General of Rivers state to approach the High Court to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers that defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC vacant.
Journalist101 recalls that the 27 pro-Wike Lawmakers in the heat of the crisis rocking the oil rich state dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and joined the APC.
Okutepa in a post on his X account, said “the 27 members of Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from PDP to APC are no longer reasonably fit to sit and perform legislative duties in Rivers State House of Assembly. They lost their seats, the date they took that foolish political decision to defect to APC even when there is no division or merger of PDP.
The senior silk maintained that “It is uncharitable and unconstitutional for them to continue to sit and be paid. It is illegal for them to sit and be paid from public treasury. It is contrary to law and order for them to parade themselves as law makers. They lost their seats because there is no merger or division in PDP.
“They can not eat their cake and still have it. Nigeria is tired of political actors who have no regard for law and constitution. It is shameful and shameless for these lawbreakers to be parading themselves preaching constitutionality. It is null and void for anyone to negotiate the violation of our constitution. It is illegal to do so.
“They are illegally occupying the seats in Rivers State House of Assembly. It is a constitutional sacrilege to see them sitting in the hallow chambers of the House. To hold themselves out as Honourable members of Rivers State House of Assembly is a crime of impersonation. They should be arrested and prosecuted immediately.
“That is the only way sanity can be restored to the heads of political rascality in that state. In Nigeria, where we claimed to practice democracy and rule of law, virtually every person in government is intolerant of the truth.We all hate truth and preferred sycophancy and praise singing. Everyone is lord onto himself. No one is accountable.
“Indeed, Nigerians are emperors of sorts. Rex is law. Put it the other ways, the king is law, and those in power are the kings and are laws onto themselves. Nigeria is a country where speaking the truth can lead to being hated by those who have the powers. Those in power see themselves as demigods, and those of us outside of power are looked down upon as nobody. In Nigeria, you don’t criticize. To criticize is an offence. Nothing is good in those who have no authority to exercise. But we can not keep quiet. Lawlessness does not pay. Those who have no regard for our constitution must be punished.”
