The Action Democratic Party on Friday told Senator Pam Mwadkon Dachungyang to vacate his Plateau North Senate seat after he admitted leaving the party, calling the matter a constitutional issue.
In a statement, the ADP said the senator’s “voluntary and unilateral” defection falls outside the Constitution’s exception for lawmakers who leave a party because of a merger or division.
“There is no division, merger, or factionalisation within the Action Democratic Party,” the party said.
ADP warned that a lawmaker who renounces party membership cannot “still retain the benefits derived from that same party’s sponsorship.
That position is unknown to law and democracy,” and said it would use “all lawful and constitutional remedies” to protect its mandate.
The party’s national secretary, Hon. Victor Fingesi, repeated the position in a formal reply to the senator, saying the directive for the return of ADP Plateau State assets — including secretariat keys and a party vehicle — “remains valid and subsisting.”
Senator Pam responded in a letter to ADP leaders, saying he will not give up his seat.
“I cannot vacate my seat in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he wrote, and added he remains “a happy member of the All Progressive Congress, APC.”
The standoff raises questions about who controls the Plateau North mandate ahead of legal steps that could follow; both ADP and the senator have copied the Senate President, INEC and the attorney-general.
