Court sacks Zamfara opposition lawmaker for joining APC

A member of the House of Representatives representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, Abubakar Gummi, has lost his seat for joining the All Progressives Congress.

Gummi was sacked on Thursday by a Federal High Court in Abuja for leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, the platform on which he won his election in 2023.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who delivered the judgment, condemned what he called the persistent culture of defection among politicians, stating that they should respect the choices of the people who elected them into office.

The judge restrained the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, from further recognising Gummi as a member of the House of Representatives.

He also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election to fill the vacancy for the constituency within 30 days from the date of the judgment.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, was filed by the PDP and its state chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, as the first and second plaintiffs.

The duo, in the originating summons filed on November 29, 2024, through their counsel, Ibrahim Bawa, SAN, sued Gummi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and INEC as the first to third defendants respectively.

The plaintiffs presented four questions before the court for determination and sought nine reliefs.

They asked whether, having regard to the provisions of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), it was not unconstitutional for Gummi to retain his seat as a member of the House.

They contended that he defected from the PDP, which sponsored him for the election to represent Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency, to the APC when there was no division in the party, among other questions.

Among other reliefs sought, the plaintiffs asked the court to declare that it was unconstitutional for the Speaker to refuse or fail to declare Gummi’s seat vacant.

Gummi, in his response through his lawyer, filed a notice of preliminary objection and a counter-affidavit.

The lawmaker argued that his defection was due to a crisis within the PDP.

He said, contrary to the plaintiffs’ deposition, the lingering, unresolved internal and external crises both at the national level and in his constituency were the reasons for his defection from the party to the APC.

Gummi said the crisis resulted in a situation where he could no longer represent his constituents properly and ensure that they all benefited from the fair distribution of the dividends of democracy within the bounds of the law and without undue interference from anyone or anything.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Egwuatu granted all the plaintiffs’ reliefs.

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

“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 right to transfer the 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 electorate, 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 declared.

He further added that Gummi, having defected from the PDP to the APC “before the expiration of the period the House was elected, automatically loses his seat as a member of the House of Representatives.”

He restrained Gummi from further receiving salaries, allowances, or any other payments in his capacity as the member representing the constituency.

The judge also directed the lawmaker to refund to the Federal Government all monies collected as salaries, allowances, or any other payments as the member representing the constituency 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 any other payments be filed in the registry of this court within 30 days of the judgment of this court,” he said.

Justice Egwuatu consequently awarded a fine of ₦500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants.

culled from punch