Defections: Prostitution Of PDP Governors, Others, Destroying Democracy – HURIWA

The Rights group also condemns crosscarpeting across party lines by political office holders since it’s unconstitutional and unethical.

Calling it unbridled political prostitution and lawlessness, the Rights group said it is miffed that even the National Assembly that ought to be custodians of the national Grund Norm has become a nest of crooks going by the frequency of financially induced cross carpeting of elected PDP members into the All Progressive Congress (APC).

HURIWA said it was worried that the All Progressives Congress that leads the Country and represents her and the good people of Nigeria at global fora by virtue of the fact that it is the political party that produced President Muhammadu Buhari, is gradually turning their political platform into the rehabitation platform for alleged Corrupt politicians who now see the APC as the refuge of sinners and crooks.

“Clearly what is at play in these irritating defections by the bunch of unprincipled political office holders, is the lack of decency and total disregard to the unambiguous provisions of the Constitution which prohibit these kinds of defections and political prostitution as can be seen in the exact wordings of the Constitution in section 68 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended). HURIWA said a plethora of other provisions as it concerns elected holders of executive tenured offices are found in the constitution.

The leading not-for-profit and non political group quoted Section 68(1) (a) of the constitution as stating thus: A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if – (a) he becomes a member of another legislative house.”

HURIWA in a media release by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, said President Muhammadu Buhari has violated his constitutional oath of office by accepting and welcoming decampees from the opposition party especially governors and legislators elected under a different  political platforms especially because President Muhammadu Buhari just like the unethical cross carpeting politicians swore oath of allegiance to the Constitution which they now violate with reckless abandon.

HURIWA  then posed this Interrogatory thus: “What exactly is our President showcasing to young people of Nigeria? Is it that it is right to breach the oath of office and the ethical codes that is binding on politicians which obliges them to remain loyal and faithful to the political vehicles they were driven to win political offices? This is political profanity at its apogee”.

“To even note that a former National Chairman of APC was quoted as saying that APC will forgive corrupt politicians the moment they cross over to APC from PDP and indeed he spoke the mind of President Buhari who has welcomed many accused corruptly enriched politicians from the other side whose cases surreptitiously develop snail speed”.

“Pure and simple the act of politicians crossing over from their political parties to the ruling political party because of pecuniary purposes is to put it very mildly, pathetically roguish and absolutely absurd. It is an act of egregious political corruption which should interest both the EFCC and ICPC if there are independent bodies”.

HURIWA express worry that the impartiality and independence of both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission have been eroded by the fact that the President directly interfere with the workings of these bodies to influence them on when to stop prosecution of cases involving PDP office holders who decamp suddenly to the party in power at the centre.

HURIWA is suggesting the creation of a 3 man independent task force to enforce the relevant provisions of the law on political defection to save the imminent collapse of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.