Bamidele Speaks On Removing Senator Abaribe From Senate

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said the seat of the Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, should be declared vacant if he is no longer a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Bamidele made the remark on Thursday during plenary following the defection of Abaribe and eight other senators to the African Democratic Congress.

Naija News had earlier reported that at least nine senators from the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and APGA defected to the ADC.

The development has triggered debates within the Senate over the legality of the defections and the constitutional implications for the affected lawmakers.

Reacting to the development, Bamidele insisted that the constitution clearly addressed situations where lawmakers leave the political parties under which they were elected.

“I’m not just a lawyer, by the grace of God, I’m a life bencher. I know this law and I know what I’m talking about. Section 68(1b) had envisaged the situation that Senator Abaribe is in today,” he said.

According to him, the law provides that a lawmaker’s seat may become vacant if circumstances arise that would have made the individual ineligible for election under a particular political party.

“It says any other circumstance that’s including being served by a political party that would have made you ineligible for election as a member. It is very clear,” Bamidele added.

Despite his position, the Senate Leader urged Abaribe to reconsider his action and withdraw the letter announcing his defection.

“Again, I still say it, let us give Senator Abaribe an opportunity to withdraw his letter, and then we continue to see how we can manage having him in this chamber,” he said.

Bamidele further argued that the Senate cannot accommodate lawmakers who are not aligned with either the majority or minority blocs.

“Today, he’s not a member of any political party. He’s not part of the majority, he’s not part of the minority side, unless we are going to create a third aisle for people who don’t belong to either the majority or the minority, which the constitution has said must not happen,” he said.