Former Rivers State Assembly Majority Leader and legal expert Chidi Lloyd clarified that recent claims of defection by Martins Amaewhule and other Assembly members to the All Progressives Congress (APC) do not hold legal merit.
Speaking on a broadcast with Arise News from 12:08, Lloyd argued that merely appearing at an APC gathering or even announcing support does not legally constitute defection. Drawing an analogy, he stated, “I go to a football match, perhaps Real Madrid in Spain, and in the course of doing that, I raised the flag of Real Madrid, does that make me a Spaniard?”
Lloyd further explained that the Court of Appeal previously ruled on the legal threshold for defection, noting that the plaintiffs in this case failed to provide concrete evidence, such as APC membership cards or an official party registry that lists Amaewhule and his colleagues as members. Lloyd asserted that without such evidence, the claims of defection remain “inchoate,” or legally incomplete.
In his words;
“Martins Amaewhule and his colleagues didn’t defect. A mere announcement on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly of their presence for All Progressive Congress does not amount in law to defection. That he deposed to an affidavit, does not amount to defection. I go to a football match, perhaps Real Madrid in Spain and in the course of doing that, I raised the flag of Real Madrid, does that make me a Spaniard.”
“The process of defection was inchoate, that is to say that the process of defection was not complete because the plaintiffs were not able to furnish the Court with either the register of the All Progressive Congress that contains the name of Martins Amaewhule and his colleagues not did they being the membership card of the all Progressive Congress. The Court of Appeal has dealt with this issue and has laid it to rest.”