Dariye to battle for Senate seat as PDP moves to unseat him

Senator Joshua Dariye may lose his seat at the Senate following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

It would be recalled that the former Plateau State Governor, who represents Plateau Central Senatorial District at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, dumped the PDP on Thursday, citing the crisis in the party.

However, a former Organising Secretary of the PDP in Plateau state, Mr. Mike Dachom, hinted on Friday that the party might declare his seat vacant.

Dariye was elected to the Senate on the platform of Labour Party in 2007 after he left the PDP but latter returned to the party that made him governor in 2015.

According to Dachom, the party is working on all options,  including initiating his recall, adding that the reason given by Dariye for his defection was not not tenable in law.

Arguing that there is no crisis in PDP, Dachom said that only the court can declare that a party is in crisis. He also insisted that the PDP structures in the state, from the ward level where the senator came from to the state and zonal level, are very much intact.

Similarly,  the Deputy Chairman of the PDP in the state, Mr Amos Gombi, in a statement he issued on Friday in Jos, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission,  INEC, to immediately conduct fresh election for Dariye’s Plateau Central Senatorial seat.

Read also:  Hunted by EFCC, ex-Gov Joshua Dariye dumps PDP for APC

According to Gombi, the fresh election would be in accordance with section 68, sub-section one of the 1999 Constitution as amended since Dariye had abandoned the party on whose platform he contested and won the election.

The statement reads: ”In 2015, Sen. Dariye contested and was elected on the platform of the PDP as senator, representing Plateau Central Senatorial Zone.

”But, by leaving the party, he cannot under this circumstance, lawfully and legally retain his seat as representative of the people in accordance with section 68 sub-section 1 of the 199 Constitution as amended.

”We strongly condemn this act and demand that he should honourably resign and vacate his seat as senator representing Plateau Central, haven become a member of another party before the expiration his tenure.

”So, we categorically call on INEC to immediately declare his seat vacant and conduct fresh election to replace him,” the statement demanded.

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews

 

 

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