By NewsBits
Enugu Lawyer and former National Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Barr Ray Nnaji has urged the party to go to court and get an order declaring the Senator Chimaroke Nnamani’s seat vacant.
Ray was reacting to the recent expulsion of the former governor by the PDP. In an exclusive chat with EverydayNews Barr. Nnaji who was also a former Local Government Chairman expressed delight with the decision of the party.
“I am very delighted that the party took the decision because I had prepared my papers to go to court. And Chimaroke is aware; I told him I would go to court. Chimaraoke’s anti party is very obvious, and he has no remorse. Even after expulsion he continued to behave as if nothing has happened; believing he is above the party.
“If the party is very active, they will go for his Senate position; he is no longer entitled to be in the National Assembly. Personally, I will even go to court to ask that he leaves the Senate. By next week I start preparing my process. He can’t remain in the Senate because he is no longer representing anybody.
“He has no platform upon which he is in the National Assembly.”
“This was a man given Senate ticket of the party without a waiver; after he joined the People for Democratic Change, PDC. He has no waiver; if Gil Nnaji had raised the issue when he was challenging Chimaraoke’s election, he would have won. And in his own case the waiver was to come from the National Executive Committee of the party. He has no waiver. The governor bulldozed his way and gave him that ticket.
“Now he went for the second term; what is his performance for Enugu East Zone within the four years he represented for the second term.
“That’s why people are not happy the way he is behaving. Because, if he has been performing, people would have felt bad by the expulsion. But majority of our people who gave him mandate are very happy; almost 80% are jubilating that he is having this problem because he has not represented us well.
“What has the people benefitted from him; Nothing. For four years. We are not talking about the first four years he took away from me. He took the Senate ticket from me. I bought the form, N1.1 million, I have the receipt, I have the teller, I have everything. He collected it from me; went there and was unable to meet the minimum number of attendance in the Senate.
“And that is the point; he has never liked the Senate. He is just trying to see if he can use it to get a better thing and that is why he is campaigning for Tinubu. As a sitting PDP Senator; it’s very shameful. If I were him, I would have resigned from PDP and join APC.
“Yes, he has right to move. But as it stands now if he moves now the party will go for his position. He can’t do that. They are talking about his participating in the forthcoming election, it’s a different ball game. If he is removed from being a Senator now, it leaves him with nothing.
“It’s a constitutional issue not Electoral Act. The Act is inferior to the constitution. The constitution says for you to contest any election you must be a member of a political party. Now he has been removed as a party member, on which platform is he going for election?
“The party is ready to sacrifice him and lose the seat. Because, he has not shown any good faith to the party. How can you be in a party and be campaigning for another party and mount billboards.”
