A federal high court in Abuja has sacked Albert Bassey as senator representing Akwa Ibom north east district over his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Bassey defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in July 2022, where he secured the ticket for the 2023 governorship election.
Delivering judgement in the suit instituted by the PDP, Fadima Aminu, presiding judge, on January 20, held that the senator cannot continue to retain the senatorial seat after resigning from the party which sponsored his election in 2019.
The judge held that the defendant(Bassey) failed to prove that his defection from PDP was necessitated by serious rancour and steep differences in the ranks of the party.
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“Therefore, this honourable court holds that the 1st defendant (Mr Akpan) who resigned from the plaintiff (PDP) but failed in his duty before this honourable court to prove the alleged serious rancour and steep differences in the ranks of the plaintiff (PDP) which made him to resign or defect to Young Progressives Party (YPP), the 1st defendant is in violation of section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution by refusing to vacate his seat as a senator in the senate won under the sponsorship of the plaintiff,” the judge said
The judge ordered Akpan to stop parading himself as a senator and ordered him to pay N5 million in costs to PDP.
The court declared his seat vacant and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election to fill it within 14 days, counting from January 20 when the judgement was delivered.
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On December 1, a federal high court in Akwa Ibom had sentenced Albert to 42 years in prison for fraud.
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