By Austin Ogwuda
MORE troubles for the embattled daughter of Chief James Ibori, Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu as the national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence processes to conduct a fresh election to fill her seat at the Federal House of Representatives, having being declared vacant, by virtue of her exit from the Party that sponsored her.
The shocker came on Friday following a press statement released by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.
The statement emphatically made it clear that it is Settled law that by her defection from the PDP, the political Party platform upon which she was elected into the House of Representatives, she willfully vacated her seat, “Thus rendering it vacant by virtue of the self-executory provision of Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“For clarity, Section 68 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: a Member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if … (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political Party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected…
“With this unambiguous Constitutional provision and its clear interpretation by the Supreme Court”, the statement went on, “Hon. Ibori-Suenu has irredeemably lost her seat, rights, privileges, recognition and obligations accruable to a Member of the House of Representatives.
“Hon. Ibori-Suenu should therefore stop parading herself as a member of the House of Representatives as such would amount to impersonation with likely criminal consequences.
“The PDP calls on the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms to note that Hon. Ibori-Suenu has ceased to be a member of the House of Representatives.
“The PDP is communicating to INEC to, within the Constitutionally stipulated time, conduct fresh election to fill the vacancy which now exists in Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency of Delta State as a result of the defection of Hon. Ibori-Suenu to the APC.
“The PDP also directs the National Legal Adviser to commence appropriate legal action to ensure that the votes and mandate of the people of Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency of Delta State, which they freely gave to the PDP are protected and not appropriated by any person or any other political party under any guise or circumstance whatsoever”, the statement added.
Hon Ibori-Suenu had in a letter she addressed to the Chairman, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, dated 5th December 2024 stated,
“Please my resignation was foisted on me by my complete exclusion by the State chapter of the party and by the lingering national leadership crisis which has riven the party into implacable camps”.
However, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Dr Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe says that the defection of Chief James Ibori’s daughter, Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu was a deliberate ploy to truncate the established zoning arrangement within the Ethiope federal constituency in order to pave way for her to contest for a second term in 2027 as against what the father (Ibori) promised them.
Dr. Oghenesivbe, who was a Campaign Spokesperson for Delta PDP in 2023 general elections stated that “Prior to 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Chief James Ibori invited leaders of Ethiope Federal Constituency to his country home in Oghara where he assured leaders of PDP that his daughter, Hon Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu should be allowed one tenure to complete the two tenure slots of Ethiope West LGA, so that Ethiope East can take her turn in 2027 under the irrevocable internal power rotation agreement in Delta PDP”.
Efforts to reach Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu Media Aides to comment on the next line of action were not successful before going to the press but The Townhall NG hopes to get her own side over PDP’s position in subsequent publication.
