Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are now in full control of Rivers State, the PDP has claimed.

In a statement by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba in Abuja during the weekend, the PDP asserted that all the Rivers legislators who defected to All Progressives Congress (APC) have completely lost all claims to their seats while all legal considerations now favour the PDP.

According to Ologunagba, APC is only pursuing mere mirage by making unintelligent claims and trying to subvert Nigeria’s constitution in its recent statements on the vacation of seats by “former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who lost their membership of that Legislative House upon defection from the PDP.”

Ologunagba further stated: “ It is indeed pathetic for the APC to think that the facts and true import of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to the effect that the former lawmakers have since lost their seats can be muddled and lost in litigations and lengthy press statements.

“Interestingly, in the failed bid to subvert the Constitution to give the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly a lifeline, the APC ended up admitting the clarity of the proviso of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in voiding their seats upon their defection.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution is clear in providing that “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if – being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

Emphasising that all House of Assembly members who defected to the APC are now effectively mere ‘former members’, Ologunagba urged the APC and the legislators to forget any possibility of ever seeing their party taking charge of Rivers State.

“The former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, for reasons best known to them, wittingly vacated and summarily lost their seats as nothing in the proviso protects or allows them to retain their membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly after decamping from the political party upon which they were elected

“These former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have only themselves to blame for Constitutionally vacating their seats; a course which cannot be reversed or remedied. They should admit their miscalculation and bear the inescapable consequences.

“This is especially so as the Supreme Court, in the case of Abegunde vs Ondo State House of Assembly and Others, has since clarified and affirmed the import of the proviso in Section 109(1)(g) in validating the automatic vacation of a seat by a member of a Legislative House who defected from the Party upon which he was elected into that House.

“For the umpteenth time the PDP cautions the APC to steer clear of Rivers State; it should perish the thoughts of forcefully taking over the State and stop exasperating the public space by seeking to reverse the irreversible.

“The APC should come to terms that with the vacation of seats by the former lawmakers, the quorum of the Rivers State House of Assembly will be determined by the number of the remaining lawmakers as provided by law; until a bye-election is conducted to fill the vacancies now existing in the Rivers State House of Assembly as a result of the defection by the former members,” Ologunagba asserted. (The Nation)

It also said it would go ahead to implement the directive of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, to look into the state of all Nigerian Army detention facilities, saying the detainees’ lives matter.

Daily Trust had reported how a soldier identified as Lance Corporal Charles Ekefure with 17NA/76/1660 was reportedly shot following complaints by some detained soldiers who broke out of their cells (guard rooms) in Sokoto State.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday led to the detention of about 100 soldiers, with 10 detained in each cell – the development that led them to clamour for better food and improved living conditions.

Reacting to the development on Saturday, the spokesman of Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, said the service shall not shy away from appropriately sanctioning the soldiers involved in what he described as “unruly behaviour” in its Sokoto detention facility.

He said, “The Army Headquarters has taken note of a report and audiovisual recording circulating on social media produced by some of its personnel held in custody at the 8 Division Garrison detention facility.

“Undoubtedly, the Sokoto barracks detention facility incident is quite unfortunate and an embarrassment to the sound administration efforts of the Chief of Army Staff, to say the least, and in line with his leadership style, the COAS has instituted an appropriate investigation into the incident to determine whether it is an isolated or widespread situation in similar detention facilities.

“While the service regrets and has gleaned some lessons from the incident, it will however not condone the manner the inmates expressed their purported grievance. Mutiny and conduct prejudicial to service order are grievous misconducts, and this very incident epitomises such.”

Nwachukwu, a Major-General, said they would be sanctioned for failing to exhaust all available options to channel their complaints to the appropriate authorities.

He added that if it was discovered they did and nothing was done, necessary administrative actions will be taken against anyone found to have failed to discharge his or her duties effectively.

Nwachukwu said, “As such, as Army, on the one side, goes ahead to implement the COAS directive to look into the state of all NA detention facilities, as detainees’ lives also matter, the Service shall not shy away from appropriately sanctioning the soldiers involved in the unruly behaviour in its Sokoto detention facility for failing to exhaust all available options to channel their complaints to the appropriate authorities and if it was discovered they did and nothing was done, necessary administrative actions will be taken against anyone found to have failed to discharge his/her duties effectively.

“While the Service is mindful of its subjective oversight engagements by statutory bodies, it remains primarily a responsible, self-regulating professional body.

“As such, the Service remains committed to ensuring that everyone, even those found guilty of aiding terrorists, kidnappers, and bandits, and are awaiting confirmation of their sentencing, as it has been discovered in the Sokoto case is accorded a relatively decent life until their judgment is confirmed and executed.

“This commitment underscores the NA’s dedication to upholding professional standards and maintaining a just and fair system. The NA appreciates all Nigerians for their concern and support as well as pledge to remain focused on its drive to defeating security challenges facing the nation in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies.” (Daily Trust)