- Senate President Saraki has reacted to a report that he planned to declare Akpabio's seat vacant
- Saraki urged members of the public to ignore the report saying the leadership of the National Assembly is focused on making the country better
- The defection of the senator from the PDP to the APC was earlier considered illegal
The Senate president, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, August 14, declared that there is no plan to declare the seat of a senator, Godswill Akpabio, or that of any other defecting lawmaker vacant.
Premium Times reports that Saraki who made this known through his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, noted that the rumour to declare any seat vacant was false.
According to him, “All that is mere talk. People are making claims when we don’t even know when they’ll reconvene.”
READ ALSO: APC senators as of August 14, 2018 (full list)
Speaking further on the reports of plans to declare Akpabio’s seat vacant, Olaniyonu said, “There’s a lot to be done and we don’t even have time for all that one.
“These people should focus on other things and leave Saraki alone. They have turned the man into a superstar overnight.”
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
He called on the public to ignore such reports saying the leadership of the National Assembly is focused on making the country better.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the defection of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the PDP to the APC was considered illegal which may be lead to his seat being declared as vacant.
A senator from the north central who is an all of Senate president Bukola Saraki claimed there was no crisis in the PDP making Akpabio’s defection illegal.
He said: “On resumption any moment from now, the APC senators would call for realignment so that those who defected would move to the seats reserved for members of their political party.
“It is in the course of doing so that the Senate President will wield the big stick against Akpabio and others by asking them to justify their reasons for defection.
“The activities of the Senate as an institution are guided by rules and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.''
The only constitutional window for defection from one political party to another is if there is a faction or division in the party on whose platform a senator is elected.
The Next President of Nigeria. Who Will Win the 2019 Elections? | on NAIJ.com TV:
Source: Naija.ng