Kwara Assembly declares lawmaker’s seat vacant for defecting

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3 years ago

kwara state house of assembly

Kwara State House of Assembly has declared the seat of the lawmaker representing Ojomu/Balogun Constituency, Offa local government, Hon. Saheed Popoola, vacant.

Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danladi announced this on the floor of the House during Thursday’s plenary session.

It is recalled that the lawmaker defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) about two weeks ago.

The Speaker noted that the declaration is in consonance with Section 109 (1) G of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

He also said that the constitution is clear on the matter, adding that Hon. Popoola ought to have vacated his seat at Ojomu/Balogun Constituency of Offa Local Government having defected from the APC to the SDP.

The Speaker, who said that since there is no division in the political party of which the lawmaker was previously sponsored, added that there was no basis for him to dump it for another party.

Speaker Danladi submitted that the House has therefore informed Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state of the development last Monday for further legislative action as Ojomu/Balogun Constituency is now vacant with Saheed Popoola’s defection to another party.

Meanwhile, the state government had denied borrowing N193billion over the last three years, describing the claim by Hon. Saheed Popoola as false and totally out of line.

In a statement by the Commissioner for Communications, Bode Towoju, the commissioner urged the people to beware of rumour mongers who he said had started mischief in a bid to mislead the populace for selfish political gains.

The commissioner, who was reacting to a claim by Hon. Popoola on a radio programme in which the lawmaker alleged that the administration had taken a total of N93billion loan since coming on board in 2019, said the claim is an outright falsehood.

“The N93 billion loan claim is spurious. How can you come up with such preposterous propaganda when the facts of what the administration received are in the public domain? The government has spoken extensively on the bond it took as well as the budget support/loan refinancing facility,” the statement said.

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