There was a heated session at the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, following the defection of another Zamfara Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member to…
There was a heated session at the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, following the defection of another Zamfara Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila read a letter from Rep Kabiru Ahmadu, announcing his defection from the PDP to the APC at the commencement of plenary.
The lawmaker, in his defection letter, cited internal crisis within the state’s chapter of the PDP.
But Deputy Minority Leader, Rep Toby Okechukwu, protested and accused the Speaker of breaching the constitution by accepting the defection of PDP lawmakers.
He also said the House leadership failed to declare vacant, the seats of defecting lawmakers as stipulated by the constitution.
But Gbajabiamila cautioned Okechukwu to be mindful of the choice of his words, saying the accusation of constitutional breach against him was unparliamentary.
Gbajabiamila said he did no wrong by receiving the defector, advising Okechukwu and his party, the PDP, to approach the court for interpretation if they felt the defection breached the constitution.
House Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, accused Okechukwu of insulting the Speaker.
There was, however, a mild drama when Doguwa described Okechukwu as appearing “fake” in reference to his attire.
Okechukwu was dressed in a Northern flowing gown with a cap to match.
Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, raised a point of order to speak on the comment of the House leader on the attire of Okechukwu, saying it was discriminatory.
He was, however, ruled out of order.
Okechukwu stood again to raise a point of order over the comments of the House leader on his attire, saying it was contrary to the provisions of Section 42 of the constitution, which says no citizen should be discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity, sex, religion or otherwise.
After some minutes of heated reactions and arguments, Gbajabiamila intervened and the proceedings of the House continued.
