PDP Asks Court To Declare Rep Wole Oke’s Parliament Seat ‘Vacant’, Cites Breach Of Constitutional Provision

The nation’s leading opposition party, the PDP, has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to declare Rep Oluwole Oke’s parliament seat vacant sequel to his defection to APC.

Rep Wole Oke, who represents Oriade/Obokun federal constituency in the House of Representatives, had a few days ago left the PDP for APC.

Recall that Rep Wole Oke had in a letter dated April 16, 2025, which he sent to the PDP Chairman in Ward 7, Obokun Local Government, Osun State, and had other party officials cc’d, announced his resignation from the party.

 PDP has therefore asked the court to declare Oke’s continued stay as a member of the House of Representatives illegal while also seeking to have Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ordered to declare the Oriade/Obokun parliament seat vacant. 

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the party in the suit filed through a team of lawyers led by Mr. Raphael Oyewole argued that Rep Oke’s action was in breach of Section 68(1)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, insisting that he has defected to the APC when there is no division in the PDP.

Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution says that a member who was elected on the platform of a political party will lose his or her parliament seat if he or she switches to another party before the end of the current term, unless the defection is due to a division or merger within the original party.

The party has also urged the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to carry out its constitutional duty by initiating the process for the conduct of a bye-election to fill the vacant parliament seat.

PDP has also asked the court to direct the Clerk of the National Assembly to withdraw all entitlements and stop the payment of salaries, allowances, including benefits to Rep Wole Oke.

The federal lawmaker, the party noted, should also be made to refund all salaries, emoluments, benefits and allowances he has received from the date he resigned from PDP to the date judgment would be delivered in the matter, having ‘unlawfully retained a legislative seat in violation of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution’. 

Listed as 1st to 5th defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1040/2025, are: Oke; the House of Reps; Clerk of the National Assembly, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the electoral umpire, INEC.

PDP is among other things, urging the court to determine: ‘Whether by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), a member of the House of Representatives, such as the 1st defendant is not required to forfeit his parliament seat, for resigning his membership of the plaintiff’s political party upon whose platform he was elected, to join another political party, in the absence of a division, merger or faction in the plaintiff political party’-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you