Nigerian lawmakers have made diverse comments on the merger of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) and the All Progressives Alliance (APC), a development expected to generated unexpected debates related to its consequences in the plenaries of the upper and lower chambers.
The merger will be a source of worry for lawmakers, as they will have to consider the legal implications if they decide to move with the governors of the states they represent. The law may not have implications on the governor but on a lawmaker, the individual stands a possibility of losing his seat.
After the declaration of the merger on Tuesday by the chairman of the defunct nPDP, Mr. Kawu Baraje, some lawmakers hailed the decision, describing it as “the best decision the aggrieved group of governors should take”.
Lawmakers, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party the governors broke away from, insisted that the merger would not in any way affect the party.
Some other lawmakers said that the merger was long expected while others did not see it coming.
Other reactions stressed the fact that something had been brewing beneath the surface and had finally erupted with the merger.
Legal Consequence
Commenting on the legal consequence, a lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said that any lawmaker that is part of the transition may lose his seat.
“Well, for governors there is really no legal consequence because once you are elected as a governor of a state it is assumed that you have a state-wide mandate of the constituency, which is a state to govern and he has been elected in his own personal capacity as such.
“Although, the Supreme Court, in Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s case made it clear that when you are elected, you are being elected on the platform of a party and it is the party that won the election.
“But the truth of the matter is that when it comes to the consequences of leaving your old party to another party that Supreme Court’s decision cannot hold sway. There is no provision that says that if you move over to another party you will lose you position,” Mr Aturu stated.
He said that, legally speaking, the governors would remain governors of their respective states and would not be affected.
“But if you are a legislator and you move to another party and you cannot show that your old party has been racked with division, then, of cause, you will lose your seat by virtue of the constitutional provision that is relevant to this matter,” he explained.
