The
Cross River State House of Assembly on Friday declared the seat of the lawmaker
representing Obubra Constituency II, Mr. Elucate Ekom, vacant for defecting to
the All Progressives Congress.
Before
Ekom’s defection, all 25 members of the House of Assembly belonged to the
Peoples Democratic Party.
Ekom
was said to have left the PDP due to the crisis in the party.
He
was said to have written a letter on Friday through the Clerk of the House, Mr.
Bassey Ekpeyong, to the Speaker, Mr. John Gaul-Lebo, when the matter was raised
during an emergency sitting.
The
Speaker later read out the letter as one of the correspondences to the House
after which he cited the constitutional provisions that the right thing to do
in the absence of any relevant subsisting court order was to declare the seat
vacant.
Lebo
had before declaring the seat vacant asked if there was an order from the
court, but the Clerk confirmed that there was none.
However,
speaking with journalists after the session, Lebo stated, “Elucate Ekom caused
the House to hold an executive session with him for some hours. They gave him
the opportunity to withdraw his letter on the grounds that the Supreme Court
had just resolved the crisis in the PDP, but he declined the appeals and
option.
“He
rather insisted on moving on with his decision to defect to the APC. We had no
other option but to do what was constitutionally expected. His seat has been
declared vacant and he said he would consult his lawyers.”
Also
corroborating the position of the Speaker, the Chairman of the House Committee
on Information, Mr. Mathew Olory, said there was no crisis in the state chapter
of the PDP that could warrant Ekom’s defection.
Efforts
to speak with Ekom proved abortive as he left the House of Assembly immediately
and switched off his telephone lines.
However,
the Vice-Chairman of the APC in the central senatorial district of the state,
Mr. Cletus Obun, described the action of the lawmakers as barbaric.
He
said, “This is a black day for democracy in Nigeria and it is a shame on the
parliamentary system considering the reasons given. This is more of a melodrama
and it is very disappointing.”
Ekom
had penultimate week defected to the APC in his Iyamoyong community in Obubra
Local Government Area of the state.
He
had said that apart from the crisis in the PDP, he was happy to join the APC
where his political godfather, Senator John Owan-Enoh, had also defected to.
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