David Mark, No Court Order Bars You From Reading Senators' Defection Letter To APC

The All Progressives Congress has said contrary to
the misinformation being peddled in some quarters, there is no
existing court order barring the 11 former PPD Senators from
defecting to the APC last week

In a statement issued in Ilorin on Sunday by its Interim
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the
existing court order is to the effect that the Senate President and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives should maintain the status
quo concerning defecting lawmakers.
"What this order means is that neither the President of the
Senate nor the Speaker of the House can declare vacant the
seats of the defecting lawmakers. It does not mean the letter of
notification from defecting members cannot be read on the floor
of the chambers."
APC said that in view of this, the argument that the defecting
letter cannot be read on the floor, so as not to contravene the
Senate's Standing Rules that precludes the upper chamber from
discussing any matter that is already in court, does not apply in this
case.
"We are not asking that the issue of the defection should
be discussed or debated on the floor of the Senate. All we are saying
is that the Senate President should read the letter of notification. The
coast is very clear for this to be done, and the Senate President is
duty bound to do so," the party said.
It reminded those who may somehow be engaging in wishful
thinking - that the 11 Senators can be tactically prevented from
defecting from the PDP to the APC - to know that it is too late in the
day for anyone to stall the move on the basis of a non-existent court
order or a Standing Rule that will only be operational if indeed there
is a court order expressly concerning the Senators' letter.
"The act of defection by the 11 Senators took place the moment
they handed the letter to the Senate President at 10am on the
morning of Wednesday 29th of January 2014 whether or not the
Senate President
goes ahead to read the letter. Therefore, trying to stall the defection
by stonewalling on the letter or attempting to secure a dubious
injunction especially when our lawyers were not served the motion
papers until about 4pm of the same Wednesday is like seeking
to abort a pregnancy when the baby has already been born.
"The existing court order that the Senate President and the
House Speaker should maintain the status quo actually strengthens
the letter written by the Senators who defected, because it says that
their seats cannot be declared vacant until the issue has been
determined, hence their defection letter should be read without delay."

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)