A member of the House of Representatives in Ondo State, Mr Ifedayo Abegunde, has been removed from his seat by a Federal High Court sitting in Akure.
Abegunde, who represents Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency, was ordered to vacate his seat in the National Assembly. He was elected on the platform of the ruling Labour Party (LP) in April 2011 general elections, but defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) after a few months in the House.
He had approached the court for judicial protection against his recall by the Ondo State House of Assembly, Labour Party, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Abegunde’ s counsel, Chief Adekola Olawoye, had argued that by the provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution and the imbroglio, division and factionalization in LP, he was entitled to dump the party.
The defence lawyer and the Ondo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), leading the Director of Civil Litigation, Mr. Rotimi Olamide submitted that since Abegunde had dumped LP and had not proved any division within party, he had automatically vacated his seat as a federal lawmaker.