Lawmaker kicks as Kwara assembly declares his seat vacant over defection

Saheed Popoola, a lawmaker from Kwara, has countered the decision of the state house of assembly to declare his seat vacant.

Popoola spoke in llorin, the Kwara capital, on Friday in an interview with NAN.

Yakubu Danladi, speaker of the Kwara house of assembly, had declared Popoola’s seat vacant during plenary on Thursday.

The decision was taken over the lawmaker’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Reacting to the development, Popoola, who is representing Ojomu-Balogun constituency in Offa LGA, said the house has no grounds to declare his seat vacant as a result of his defection.

“The speaker, the house members, the governor, the attorney-general of the state, and the party do not have the right to declare my seat vacant,” he said.

“The only organ that can declare my seat vacant is the court of law and I had filed a process in the court of law last week where I was given an injunction against them which was served on the house not to tamper with my seat.

“The speaker is not a judge. He is a colleague like me and he cannot declare my seat vacant since we came through the same election representing our constituencies.”

On his part, Ibrahim Sharafudeen, spokesman of the SDP in Kwara, described the decision of the Kwara assembly as illegal.

According to Sharafudeen, there is an existing injunction restraining the state assembly from taking action until the substantive matter is addressed.

Meanwhile, Tajudeen Aro, spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara, said the votes cast for Popoola in the 2019 general election belong to the APC, adding that the victory cannot be transferred to the SDP which did not field any candidate during the election.