Don’t declare Abia North Senatorial District seat vacant — APGA chieftain

Chief Onuoha Bourdex, member, Board of Trustees, All Progressives Grand Alliance, has said it would be prejudicial to declare Abia North Senatorial District seat vacant.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, Bourdex said the call was in view of alleged efforts by some interest groups in the National Assembly to do so.
It would be recalled that Senator Orji Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District, was on December 5, 2019 sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Lagos over charges of embezzling N7.12 billion while in office as governor of Abia State.
Bourdex, who was also the APGA candidate for Abia North Senatorial District seat in the 2019 general election, enjoined ambitious politicians to avoid making moves that would undermine the preferences of the electorate.
He noted that although the present occupant of the Senate seat was facing some challenges, the wishes of the electorate that voted him should be respected.
Bourdex said he reflected on the realities of developments before congratulating Kalu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the election.
“Nothing will shake my belief that public service should not be do-or-die or out of desperation,” he added.
He said there was no need for any interest group in the National Assembly to declare the Abia North Senatorial District seat vacant.
Bourdex contended that since Kalu had appealed against his conviction, “it is preposterous and presumptuous to make such demand.”
He noted that after the Election Petition Tribunal and Court of Appeal ruled on the outcome of the Abia North Senatorial District election, those urging the National Assembly to declare the seat vacant were manifesting symptoms of desperation and overzealousness to join the senate through the back door.
He added: “Granted that the wheel of justice grinds slowly,  surely those of us in politics should strive to follow the rule of law without doing anything to circumvent the process.
“We should stand for fairness, and patience is necessary to ensure that justice is done both for the state and citizens and the society at large.”