Nollywood veteran and political figure, Kenneth Okonkwo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the office of Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, vacant following his reported defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Okonkwo, who is a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), argued that Governor Diri effectively ceased to hold office the moment he resigned from the PDP, as the 1999 Constitution mandates elected officials to belong to a political party.
Governor Diri, on Wednesday, announced his resignation from the PDP during a cabinet meeting held at the Government House in Yenagoa.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Okonkwo, a lawyer, cited Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that every candidate for the office of governor must be a member of a political party.
According to him, Diri’s current status having resigned without publicly joining another party renders his position constitutionally vacant.
“Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has just vacated his seat as governor by resigning from the PDP and not belonging to any political party,” Okonkwo stated.
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