The vacancies in the Rivers State Assembly have been officially announced to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie.
After Rt Hon Martin Amaewhule and twenty-four others defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), their seats were declared vacant.
According to MISMOB, 27 members from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who defected to the APC had their seats declared empty by the State Assembly.
Last week on Wednesday, at a session held in the temporary facility loaned by Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, the Speaker made the news.
No member of the PDP should defect, according to Ehie, as there is no internal strife.
He stated that the choice to proclaim the seats vacant was in accordance with sections 109 (1) (g) and 2 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Since the people must be represented fairly, he demanded that the INEC hold new elections to fill the empty seats.