Court sacks Cross River State Speaker, 19 lawmakers for defecting to APC

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked the Speaker of the Cross Rivers House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, and 19 members of the house over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The judge, Taiwo Taiwo, while delivering judgment on Monday, March 21, 2022, dismissed all the preliminary objections raised by the sacked lawmakers.

The suit was instituted by the PDP to challenge the lawmakers’ defection to the ruling APC. 

The judge said, “A day must surely come when elected officials, must ask the people who voted for them before defecting to other political parties.”

Justice Taiwo added that the “lawmakers wined and dined under the umbrella of the PDP,” and left the party when there was no justification to do so.

He also said “The defendants court documents were contrived and filed with loopholes. The papers are manifestly defective.”

This is coming two weeks after Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, his deputy, Kelechi Igwe and 15 members of the state House of Assembly for dumping the PDP for the APC.