In a frank interview on Arise TV, former Peoples Democratic Party Senator for Rivers Southeast, Senator Olaka Nwogu, stressed the importance of allowing the court to thoroughly address the defection issue.

He clarified that simply declaring one's departure from a party does not qualify as defection.

He went on referencing a decision by Justice Basam indicating that the state High Court may lack jurisdiction over lawmakers' defections.

He recommended that those contesting this decision pursue an appeal.

Nwogu explained that Justice Basam's ruling affirmed the legitimacy of the assembly members involved.

He stressed that defection should lead to the loss of a seat only if it violates legal provisions.

In his words in a video (8:59), he said, "You must allow the defection matter to be thoroughly dealt by the Court. The mere saying that I have left my party is not defection. And Justice Basam has ruled on that. What the Court says is that if you move from your party to the other party, you should lose your seat provided that you didn't follow the provisions of the law. The Constitution says that it should be done by the speaker but there was no speaker available."