The Center For Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN) has urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to swiftly organize fresh elections for the 27 state constituencies of the Rivers State House of Assembly. They emphasized the need to prevent what they termed a “constitutional infraction in the state.”
This appeal was communicated through a press statement issued on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, by CHRAN’s state director and secretary, Otuekong Franklyn Isong and Christopher Ekpo, respectively. The statement was released to the media in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
CHRAN asserted that due to the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the political party that sponsored their election, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and in the absence of any division within the PDP, their seats have become vacant as per Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.
The organization cautioned that any actions taken by these lawmakers in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly would be deemed illegal, unconstitutional, and null, as they have lost their seats in accordance with the law and the Constitution.
Furthermore, CHRAN called upon Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to take immediate measures to uphold law and order in Rivers State. It also advised politicians not to incite unrest in the state but rather allow the government to deliver democratic dividends to the people.
The crisis within the Rivers State House of Assembly escalated on Monday, December 11, 2023, following the defection of 27 lawmakers from the party that originally sponsored their election into the Assembly.
