Cross River State lawmakers have been asked to vacate their seats since they abandoned the party which brought them to power.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
A political tsunami has hit Cross River State. Like in Ebonyi, a High Court has sacked 20 members of the State House of Assembly for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmakers were formerly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who jumped ship with the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade.
But unlike Ebonyi, the court judgment spared the governor, Professor Ben Ayade.
According to reporting by Vanguard Newspaper, the judgment was delivered by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, today, March 21.
In the judgement delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, the court held that the lawmakers needed to vacate their seats since they had abandoned the party which brought them to power.
The Cross River State lawmakers joined Professor Ben Ayade in his defection to the APC in March 2021.
The judgement sacking them followed a suit filed by the PDP marked FHC/ABJ/CS/975/2021.
On March 8. a similar judgment was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which sacked the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, his deputy, Eric Igwe, and the 17 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
The lawmakers had on November 17, 2020, joined Umahi and his Deputy, Dr. Eric Kelechi Igwe, to move over to the APC.
The court held that the lawmakers, having abandoned the political party that sponsored them, could not transfer the mandate they obtained from the ballot to another political party.