Court sacks Zamfara rep over defection from PDP to APC, orders refund of salaries

A federal high court in Abuja has sacked Abubakar Gummi, a lawmaker representing the Gummi/Bukkuyum federal constituency of Zamfara state, for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Delivering judgement on Thursday, Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge, held that Gummi’s defection was unconstitutional since there was no division in the PDP at the time he left the party.

The judge restrained Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, from further recognising Gummi as a member of the lower chamber.

In addition, Egwuatu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election to fill the vacant seat within 30 days.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, was filed by the PDP and its Zamfara state chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, through their lawyer, Ibrahim Bawa.

The plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether Gummi’s defection from the PDP—which sponsored his election—to the APC was lawful, and whether the speaker’s failure to declare his seat vacant violated section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

In his defence, Gummi argued that his defection was triggered by what he described as “lingering unresolved internal and external crises” within the PDP at both national and constituency levels.

He claimed that the situation made it impossible for him to effectively represent his constituents and ensure equitable distribution of democratic dividends.

However, the judge dismissed the argument and granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.

The judge criticised the growing trend of political defections, describing it as a betrayal of the electorate’s mandate.

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

“A situation where the electorate 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 whose 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 electorate. 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.”

The judge consequently ordered that Gummi “automatically loses his seat as member of the house of representatives.”

He further restrained the lawmaker from receiving any form of remuneration from the federal government and directed him to refund all salaries and allowances earned from October 30, 2024, until the date of judgement.

“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 judgement of this court,” the judge said.

Egwuatu also awarded N500,000 in costs against the defendants in favour of the plaintiffs.