JUST IN : Court sacks Rep for defecting from PDP to APC, orders fresh election

In a significant development, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sacked a member of House of Representatives , Abubakar Gummi, from office following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Gummi represents the Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State in the House of Representatives.

In his judgment, Justice Obiora Egwuatu ordered the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, to stop recognising Gummi as a member representing the constituency.

The court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise a fresh election to fill the vacant seat within 30 days of the ruling.

Although the judgment was delivered on Thursday, the certified true copy was obtained on Friday.

The case, with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, was instituted by the PDP and its Zamfara State Chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, as the first and second plaintiffs.

Filed on November 29, 2024, by Ibrahim Bawa, SAN, the suit listed Hon. Abubakar Suleiman Gummi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and INEC as the first to third defendants.

The plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether Gummi’s defection violated Section 68 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), arguing that he could not retain his seat after leaving the PDP, which sponsored his election, when no division existed within the party.

They also sought a declaration that it was unconstitutional for the Speaker to fail to declare his seat vacant.

In his defence, Gummi, through his counsel, filed a preliminary objection and counter affidavit, arguing that his move to the APC was triggered by an internal crisis within the PDP.

He maintained that unresolved internal and external conflicts in the party at both the national and constituency levels hindered his ability to represent his constituents effectively.

Delivering judgment, Justice Egwuatu upheld all the plaintiffs’ prayers and criticised the growing culture of defection among Nigerian politicians.

“Before I take my fingers off the keyboard, let me just add, that politicians should respect the wishes of the electorates that elected them into office.

“A situation where the electorates have made their choices between different political parties and their candidates based on the manifestos and marketability of such a political party, it is legally and morally wrong for such a politician to abandon the party under which platform he or she was elected into office and move to a rival party without relinquishing the mandate of his or her former party.

“If a person must decamp, don’t decamp with the mandate of the electorates.

“Don’t transfer the votes garnered on the platform of one party to another party.

“A politician has no such rights to transfer votes of a political party to another political party.

“The law must punish such moves by taking away the benefits bestowed upon the decampee politician by the electorates.

“And that is what Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution has done.
“Political prostitution must not be rewarded.
“In total, I resolve all the issues in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants,” Justice Egwuatu ruled.

The court held that Gummi, having defected from the PDP to the APC before the end of his tenure, automatically lost his seat in the House.

Justice Egwuatu further barred him from receiving any salary or allowances as a lawmaker and ordered him to refund all payments received from October 30, 2024, to the date of judgment.
“An order is made directing that the evidence of the refund of all monies collected as salaries, allowances or howsoever called be filed in the registry of this court within 30 days of the judgment of this court,” the judge added.

He also awarded a cost of N500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs against the defendants.