By The Kwara State House of Assembly has stripped Saaba Issa Gideon and Olusola Odetundun of their seats after both lawmakers left the All Progressives Congress for the Peoples Democratic Party. Gideon represents Edu constituency and Odetundun represents Irepodun; both had their seats declared vacant during plenary on Tuesday.
The move traces back to a letter from state APC Chairman Sunday Fagbemi to Speaker Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, urging the Assembly to invoke Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution against the two defectors. Fagbemi argued that since Gideon and Odetundun won their seats on the APC platform, and since no internal division existed within the party to justify their exit, they had no constitutional basis to abandon it for the PDP. “Since the two members were elected under the APC and there is no division within the party, they have no constitutional right to abandon the party for another,” he wrote.
House Leader Oba Mogaji opened debate on the matter by framing it as a straightforward constitutional question the Assembly was obligated to settle. He cited the relevant provision directly: “A member shall not belong to another political party than the one that sponsored him to the House, as long as his tenure has not expired.” Mogaji noted that both lawmakers had not only defected but were also seeking re-election in 2027 under the PDP banner, calling that combination a clear constitutional violation and throwing his support behind declaring the seats vacant. Other lawmakers, including Abolarin Gabriel, Ganiyu Folabi and Adato Oguniyi, backed the motion, and the Speaker followed through, declaring both seats vacant in line with the House’s resolution.
The Kwara PDP wasted no time rejecting the outcome. In a statement from State Publicity Secretary Olusegun Adewara, the party called the move politically motivated punishment for lawmakers exercising their constitutional rights and took particular issue with how the process began. “It was particularly disturbing that the process was initiated on the strength of a letter from the APC State Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, who is not a constituent from the affected constituencies, effectively turning the State House of Assembly into an extension of the APC’s internal disciplinary machinery,” the party said.
The PDP didn’t dispute that Section 109(1)(g) exists but argued it can’t be applied selectively. It pointed out that the Constitution also recognizes exceptions tied to division within a party and that Section 109(2) requires the House to have satisfactory evidence before the Speaker can act. On that basis, the party demanded the Assembly make public whatever evidence it relied on and demonstrate that it actually met that constitutional threshold before moving to vacate the seats. It also questioned the optics of leaning on the APC chairman’s letter at all, arguing a constitutional matter shouldn’t be settled by a political declaration from the very party the lawmakers had left. “If the APC is confident of its popularity, it should face the electorate instead of attempting to remove its former members through parliamentary manoeuvring,” the statement said.
The party went further, calling on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the Speaker to keep the Assembly functioning as an institution for the public rather than what it described as a political enforcement arm of the APC, and specifically urged the Speaker, who is also the APC’s governorship candidate, to keep his party interests separate from his duties presiding over the legislature. The PDP is now pushing for the decision to be reversed immediately, with the courts settling any constitutional questions where necessary. “The PDP will not accept any attempt to use the legislature to intimidate or politically persecute its members and will deploy every lawful and constitutional means available, including judicial action, to protect the rights of Hon. Odetundun, Hon. Saba, and the constituents they represent,” Adewara said.
Both lawmakers had announced their departures from the APC in late August, part of a broader wave of political realignment sweeping Kwara ahead of 2027. Gideon cited concerns over internal democracy, fairness, and inclusiveness within the ruling party in his resignation letter, while Odetundun said his decision followed consultations with constituents and stakeholders aimed at realigning his politics with the interests of the people he represents. Gideon’s exit carries some added history: he had earlier been suspended for three months by the Assembly leadership over alleged contempt, a suspension a Kwara State High Court later struck down as unconstitutional. The defections also follow the earlier departure of Senator Saliu Mustapha, who represents Kwara Central, left the APC for the PDP, and has since been unveiled as the opposition party’s 2027 senatorial candidate.
