Chief David Onuoha-Bourdex, member Board of Trustees, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has condemned the call to declare Abia North senatorial seat vacant, saying it is presumptuous.
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A statement issued on Thursday by Mr Umunna Amara, Director of Press, David Onuoha-Bourdex Media Office, said that due process should be observed in declaring the seat vacant.
The occupant of the seat, Sen. Orji Kalu is currently serving a jail sentence, having been convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly misappropriating N7.1billion when he was the governor of Abia.
According to the APGA chieftain, our attention has been drawn to attempts by some hired hands to twist the call by Onuoha-Bourdex on politicians to observe due process in their calls for Abia North senatorial seat to be declared vacant.
“It should be recalled that some journalists in Abuja accosted Onuoha-Bourdex, for his reactions to the outcome of the re-run election in Abia.
“In the course of the interaction, the issue of Abia North senatorial seat was raised.
“However, against the backdrop of the call for the seat to be declared vacant, Onuoha-Bourdex insisted that it was presumptuous because Kalu had appealed his conviction,” he said.
Onuoha-Bourdex maintained that since the hands of the senate were literally tied by the court case, calling for the seat to be declared vacant would amount to levying needless pressure on the National Assembly.
“This will also amount to the National Assembly meddling into a matter before another arm of government.
“We are convinced that characters championing the call on Kalu to resign and the senate to vacate his seat are hirelings of the immediate past occupant of the senate seat.
“It is therefore necessary to urge these agents to direct their attacks on their paymaster who, instead of using constituency funds to develop the senatorial district, wallowed in vainglory.
“We also advice the agents of the former senator to challenge their principal to give account of his years in the red chamber, before expending his energy to pitch Abia North senatorial district against the leadership of the 9th Senate.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I have not joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) as speculated, rather I have continued to demonstrate in words and developmental gestures that I have the interest of Abia North at heart,” he said.
He insisted that politics should not be a do-or-die affair or an avenue for selfish glorification, but service to the people.
He vowed to ensure that whoever held the mandate of the people must be accountable and law abiding.