We Can’t Declare APC Members Seats Vacant – INEC To PDP

Pressure mounted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on INEC to
declare the seats of the 37 Reps who recently defected to the All
Progressives Congress (APC) has met with rebuff from the commission.
The embattled Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, the National
Secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo, and the National Legal Adviser,
Victor Kwon, had signed a letter asking INEC to immediately conduct
elections into the affected constituencies following the defection of
its members to the APC.
But INEC has told the PDP that it is not within its powers to take
such an action:
"Honestly…it is not the job of INEC to take such a decision. INEC is
not the one to declare seats of elected public office holders vacant.
That is not what the law says and I can tell you that INEC is not
going to do that."
Speaking to The Nation on the matter, the Chief Press Secretary to the
Chairman of INEC, Kayode Idowu, said it is not the duty of the
commission to declare the seats of lawmakers vacant in whatever
circumstance.
Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak,
was quoted in a newspaper interview that the PDP had written to INEC
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to
declare the seats of the 37 Reps vacant.