TheCable

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking the removal of Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto state governor, over his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, on Tuesday, held that the court of appeal has ruled in several cases that governors cannot forfeit their seats on the grounds of defection.

Ekwo said since such judgments were yet to be set aside by the supreme court, they remained the law and binding on lower courts.

The trial judge berated the plaintiff’s lawyers for failing to draw the attention of their client to the fact that the issue was pending before the apex court.

He held that it would amount to an exercise in futility for a federal high court to decide on a matter before the apex court.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/449/2022, the APC prayed the court to invoke sections 177, 179, and 189 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to declare the governorship seat of Sokoto state vacant on the account of Tambuwal’s defection to the PDP.

According to the APC, since Tambuwal won the election under the platform of the party, he ought to forfeit the seat after defecting to the PDP.

Tambuwal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and PDP were cited as defendants in the suit.