A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a King’s Counsel in the UK, Professor Fidelis Oditah has alleged that the speaker of the Pro-Wike Group lawmakers, Honourable Martins Amaewhule’s declaration of defection to the APC through an affidavit has shown that such matters should be straightforward and transparent.
He compared political defection to other absolute actions like resignation and mental health status, asserting that these are self-executing events that take effect immediately upon declaration. According to Professor Oditah, there is no complex “process” of defection – once a politician declares their intention to defect or acknowledges their defection, the action is complete and irreversible. He also pointed out that the defected politicians themselves sought and obtained a ruling from the Federal High Court confirming their own defection.
He said in an interview with Arise TV from 2:56, ‘I think the River State situation is most unfortunate, and it’s been illegality compounded by illegality. But let’s try and break down the issues; the starting point is whether the 27 lawmakers are indeed lawmakers. The courts have vacillated on that issue, and anyone who is noble in his intentions must say that Section 109(1g) of the Constitution is very clear. Mr. Amaewhule said that he has cross-carpeted to the APC through an affidavit; that should be open and short. I think it’s very straightforward, and there’s nothing to interpret.
There is no such thing as a process of defection. It’s like saying there’s a process of resignation – there isn’t. Once you resign, the resignation is self-executing. It’s also similar to lunacy; if you’re lunatic, you are mad – there is no process of lunacy. Once a man says, ‘I defect, I leave,’ or ‘I have left,’ that’s the end of it; there’s nothing to interpret. So, that position is very clear, but what is even more astonishing is that the defected politicians are the ones who have obtained the ruling from the Federal High Court to say they have defected.”