Chief of the Nigerian Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, has stated that the position of Abia South senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, ought to be declared unoccupied if he is no longer affiliated with the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Bamidele made this remark on Thursday during a session when Abaribe and eight other senators transitioned from their parties to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
NAIJATAB had reported that no fewer than nine senators from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, LP, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, shifted to the ADC.
In response, the Senate Leader stated, “I’m not only a lawyer, by divine grace, I’m a life bencher. I understand this legislation and I know what I’m referring to. Section 68(1b) had anticipated the scenario that Senator Abaribe finds himself in today.
“It states any alternative situation that includes being affiliated with a political party that would render you ineligible for election as a member. It is exceedingly explicit.
“Moreover, I reiterate, let us provide Senator Abaribe with a chance to retract his letter, and then we may continue to explore how we can accommodate him in this chamber.
“As of today, he’s not a member of any political organization. He’s not part of the majority, nor the minority side, unless we are to establish a third aisle for individuals who don’t belong to either the majority or the minority, which the constitution has explicitly stated must not occur.”
