Nollywood veteran Kenneth Okonkwo has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare the office of Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, vacant from defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The ADC chieftain argued that Diri has effectively vacated his office after his resignation from the PDP.
DAILY POST recalls that Diri on Wednesday, announced his resignation from the PDP during a cabinet meeting at the government house in Yenagoa.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday, the lawyer cited section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that every elected government official must belong to a political party.
According to him, since Diri is currently not a member of any party, he has lost his seat as governor.
This is the post from Kenneth Okonkwo on his Instagram page:
Gov Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has just vacated his seat as the Governor of Bayelsa State by resigning from the PDP and not belonging to any party. The position of the law is that every elected member of the government must be a member of a political party. (Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution) Gov Diri, being not a member of any political party, has lost his seat as Governor.
An elected member of government can only defect from one party to another but cannot be partyless at any point in time. I, therefore, call on INEC to declare his seat vacant immediately and conduct a gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State within the next 90 days.
Credit: dailypost.ng
