Human right lawyer, Femi Falana. (photo: Channels TV)
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has described the mass defection of lawmakers in the National Assembly as illegal.
The Senior Advocate, who said on Thursday in Lagos, noted that defectors were supposed to lose their seats once they dump the party on which platform they were elected in the first place.
He noted that the emergence of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) was not enough reason for the defectors to dump the ruling party for others.
Falana said; “You cannot leave the party that sponsored your election for another party without resigning so that you can ask for a fresh mandate from the electorate.
“That has not happened in this case. What the law is saying is that before you can have a division that will necessitate or legalise your defection, the division in your party must be total.”
Falana, however, said if the crisis in the APC was similar to the one witnessed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the 2015 general elections, such defection would have been justified by the law.