A former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mark Jacob, has known as on Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri to vacate his workplace, arguing that his reported resignation from the celebration renders his place unconstitutional.
Jacob made the assertion on Tuesday, October 21, throughout an interview on ARISE News, as political uncertainty deepened over Diri’s exit from the PDP.
The governor had introduced his resignation from the opposition celebration final week, citing “obvious reasons,” although he didn’t clarify his grievances or disclose his subsequent political transfer.
Rumours have since circulated that Diri would possibly defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), following an analogous path as his Enugu counterpart, Peter Mbah
However, his silence on the matter has fuelled widespread debate in regards to the legality of his continued keep in workplace.
Jacob maintained that Diri’s present standing violates the Constitution, saying, “Occupying that office without a political party is completely illegal.”
READ ALSO: More Bayelsa PDP Members Dump Party, Pledge Loyalty to Diri
He added, “Without the PDP, Governor Diri would not have contested the election at all. The people of Bayelsa have the right to question his continued occupation of that office because they are the ones who voted. If their governor is now without a political party, he ought to vacate that seat.”
The former PDP official additionally criticised the weak enforcement of constitutional provisions relating to political defections, accusing politicians of exploiting loopholes with out consequence.
“Institutions are being rubbished by politicians, and the courts appear helpless because the wordings in the Constitution make it possible for candidates to dump their political parties and go elsewhere without repercussion,” he mentioned.
Jacob lamented that judicial reluctance has emboldened politicians to change allegiances freely, turning events into “mere vehicles for power.
“Politicians move freely from one party to another without consequence. Nobody seems able to control the political class anymore,” he said.
He concluded that the rising disregard for celebration loyalty undermines Nigeria’s democracy, warning that some politicians have grow to be “bigger than political parties, bigger than the courts, and even bigger than INEC.”
