A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, ordered former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to vacate his seat following his defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The lawmaker had in July 2020, defected to the ruling APC citing anomalies in the leadership of the PDP particularly in his state.
But The PDP in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/883/2020, approached the court, asking it to declare Dogara’s seat vacant following his defection to the APC.
Delivering judgment, Justice Donatus Okorowo, declared that having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Dogara was no longer qualified to occupy the seat by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution.
Justice Okorowo aligned with the argument of the PDP that by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly, before the expiration of his tenure, Dogara ought to vacate the seat as he was no longer qualified to partake in the activities of the lower house.
The judge, who held that the action of the lawmaker was prohibited by law, agreed that the aim of Section 68(1)(g) was to check political prostitution among legislators.
“The judgment is, therefore, given in favour of the plaintiffs I hereby grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs,” he declared.
Dogara, who was a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was in 2019, re-elected on the platform of the PDP to represent Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State.
This judgement is similar to the pronouncement by Justice Inyang Ekwo, who had on March 8, sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, alongside other lawmakers who dumped the PDP for APC, describing their action as unlawful.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo, another judge in the Abuja division, had also, on March 21,, ordered the 20 lawmakers from Cross River to vacate their seats following their defection from the PDP to APC.
The lawmakers comprised two House of Representatives members and 18 state House of Assembly members.
