Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced a stringent anti-defection policy, compelling all its governorship and National Assembly candidates to sign legally binding affidavits committing them to remain with the party after winning elections.
The party said the move is aimed at safeguarding party loyalty, protecting electoral mandates and preventing the wave of defections that has continued to weaken political institutions across the country.
Speaking at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja during the signing ceremony attended by aspirants and candidates, National Chairman of the NDC, Senator Moses Cleopas, said the policy was designed to ensure that elected officials do not abandon the platform that sponsored their emergence after securing victory at the polls.
“We are putting this in black and white. Once you take the ticket, you are bound by it. If you leave, you leave with the seat,” Cleopas declared.
According to him, the NDC was established after a careful study of Nigeria’s political landscape and the recurring pattern of elected officials defecting from the parties that sponsored them into office.
“The mandate belongs to the party and the people who voted through that platform. If you leave the party after winning, you cannot continue to hold the seat,” he said.
The NDC chairman lamented what he described as a growing culture of political opportunism, where politicians secure electoral victories under one platform only to defect to rival parties after assuming office.
Referencing developments in other political parties, particularly the Labour Party, Cleopas said such experiences reinforced the need for stronger institutional safeguards.
“In the Labour Party, we have seen situations where people won elections on the platform and later moved elsewhere. That is the kind of thing we are trying to stop,” he said.
He argued that defections weaken political institutions, undermine voter confidence and erode the foundations of democratic governance.
According to him, the NDC is determined to build a party structure capable of surviving beyond individual politicians and remaining relevant across generations.
“Anyone who chooses to leave the party after winning an election under our platform must also surrender the mandate obtained through the party,” he stated.
Cleopas stressed that party tickets belong to political parties and not individual candidates, insisting that elected officials cannot separate themselves from the platform through which they secured office.
He maintained that the policy was necessary to prevent the collapse of political institutions and ensure that political parties remain strong whether in government or opposition.
On the legal foundation of the policy, the NDC chairman cited provisions of both domestic and international legal instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Nigeria’s Constitution, arguing that while citizens enjoy freedom of association, such rights do not automatically entitle elected officials to retain mandates obtained through a political party after defection.
Providing further insight into the policy, the party’s National Legal Adviser, Reuben Egwuaba, disclosed that every aspirant seeking elective office on the NDC platform must swear to an affidavit before a competent court affirming acceptance of the party’s anti-defection provisions.
According to him, the affidavit will form part of the nomination documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“These provisions make it clear that once you are elected under the NDC, your mandate is tied to the party. If you resign from the party, you cannot retain the office,” Egwuaba said.
He added that compliance with the requirement is mandatory for all aspirants.
“Without this affidavit, your name will not even be uploaded to the INEC portal. It is a strict requirement,” he stated.
The legal adviser explained that the measure was designed to close what he described as legal loopholes that have allowed elected officials to defect from their parties without consequences.
The development marks one of the most aggressive anti-defection measures announced by a political party ahead of the 2027 elections and is expected to reignite debate over the ownership of electoral mandates and the constitutional limits of political defections in Nigeria.
