Defection: Declaration of five lawmakers’ seats vacant raises concern

In the last two months, no fewer than five lawmakers across the country have seen their seats declared vacant by their respective Houses of Assembly. 

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that state governors are being blamed for the whole saga. The trend, which began in February in Ebonyi State, has spread to Plateau, Ondo and Kwara.

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While three of the affected lawmakers from Kwara, Ondo and Plateau found themselves in troubled waters for defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the last two legislators from Ebonyi were members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who reportedly accused the House of forging their defection letters from the PDP to the APC.

However, in most of the cases, it was observed that the assemblies went ahead with the suspensions of the lawmakers, despite the proactive steps to serve them court notices after getting wind of the decision to sack them. 

In the case of Kwara State, the House declared the seat of the lawmaker representing Ojomu/Balogun Constituency of Offa Local Government, Hon. Saheed Adekeye Popoola, vacant.

Speaker of the assembly, Engr Yakubu Salihu Danladi, announced the decision on the floor during last Thursday’s plenary.

According to him, the declaration is in consonance with Section 109 (1) G of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, adding that “Popoola ought to have vacated his seat having defected from APC to SDP.

But speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, Popoola said the decision of the House amounts to contempt.

“The Speaker and the entire House do not have the right to declare my seat or that of any member vacant, not even INEC. That can only be done by the court of law,” he said.

But analysts have, however, said it will be difficult to situate the development outside the APC leadership crisis in the state between the Governor Abulraham Abdulrazaq and the minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Coincidentally, the Ondo saga began on Thursday March 31, 2022 after the House announced the sack of its former Deputy Speaker, Iroju Ogundeji, and declared his seat vacant, citing section 109 of the constitution.

The assembly, presided by the Speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct by-election in the constituency within 90 days.

He ordered that all the benefits and entitlements accruing to his office should be stopped immediately. But Ogundeji who decamped to the PDP on March 19, 2022, said the Assembly acted contrary to the order of the court. 

He cited division in the ruling party and denial of his membership of the APC for about a year and a half ago as responsible for his decision. The same reason cited by Popoola in Kwara for defecting to the SDP.

In the case of Plateau State, the Assembly led by Yakubu Sanda on Tuesday March 22, 2022 declared the seat of the lawmaker representing Jos East State constituency, Abok Ayuba, vacant.

Abok, the embattled former Speaker of the State Assembly, had been at loggerheads with the Sanda-led leadership since October last year when he was removed in controversial circumstances.

Subsequently, the crisis degenerated to the vandalization of the state assembly and their relocation to the old Government House at Rayfield. Ayuba, who had refused to attend any plenary called by Sanda then decamped from the APC to the PDP. The matter is presently before the state high court.

His Media Assistant, Itse Kaze, in a statement said Abok officially tendered his letter of resignation from the APC while presenting a letter of intent seeking to return to his former party, the PDP, at the party’s Jos East Local Government Secretariat at Angware.

Just like the case of Ondo, the decision to sack Abok came on the heels of a letter from the state chapter of the APC urging the Speaker to declare Abok’s seat vacant in line with section 109 of the Nigerian Constitution.

In the case of Ebonyi, which also played out on Thursday February 24, 2022, the affected lawmakers this time around – Oliver Osi and Mrs Lilian Ngozi Eziulo are members of the PDP.

Osi and Eziulo represent Ivo and Afikpo North East Constituency in the state House of Assembly respectively.

The Assembly took the decision during a plenary at the Legislative Chamber Abakaliki and presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Kingsley Ogbonaya Ikoro, citing section 306 (2 &7) of 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended. 

According to him, their seats were declared vacant following an allegation that the House forged their defection letters from PDP to APC.

The lawmakers thereafter affirmed their loyalty to the APC led by Governor David Umahi and the Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru-led Ebonyi State House of Assembly. 

But Oliver Osi who spoke on behalf of the embattled duo said it’s only a court with competent jurisdiction that can declare their seats vacant.

As the drama continues to unfold in states over the issue, observers have argued that the five cases mentioned may not be the last if the peculiarity of the country’s political process is anything to go by. They added that whole issue is about the forthcoming election and the ambitions of the political gladiators.

While the Houses have often cited section 109 and 306 of the 1999 constitution as amended to justify their action, the affected lawmakers have argued that such decision smacks of contempt, raising the debate of the propriety or otherwise of the action in a year that precedes the 2023 elections.

Weighing in on the matter, the Executive Director Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), Comrade Taiwo Otitolaye, said the development smacks of conspiracies among the political parties but with a caveat.   

“The constitution as amendment holds that the seat of any lawmaker that defected should be declared vacant. This is different from that of the governor and deputy.

“Politically, it will teach our politicians to have political integrity where they will win election through a particular party and halfway into their tenure defect.

“It is a betrayal of trust to the party and the people that elected them. The action is nothing but political prostitution. Their seat should be declared vacant and it will subsequently teach the lawmakers a lesson.

“The lawmakers cannot be a judge in their own case; they must wait for the pronouncement of a court of competent jurisdiction. But we cannot rule out political conspiracies here. The APC is in power and may not want to lose its members at any level and vice versa,” he said.

For a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekiti State, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), “Constitutionally, it is the head of the legislature, in this case Senate President or Speaker that is given the responsibility to declare the seat vacant. It is only when people are not satisfied that they can go to court maybe because or merger of factionalisation of the party following complaints from the party chairman.”

On his part, the Head of Department (HOD) Political Science, University of Ilorin, Dr Muhammed Alada, said the issue is about politics. 

“Everything is underlined with politics. The same section that is being quoted to buttress the illegality of the action is the same that is quoted to justify it.

“Politicians being what they are will always look for something to have an edge over their opponents. Their leaving their parties is not informed by any ideological consideration or to satisfy the constituency but personal ambitions.

“What is the difference between these political parties? You find out that the manifestos of all the major parties are written by the same set of people at different times before they left. We have people who have vowed that they will rather die than join a particular party and then few months later they are there. Nothing happened afterwards,” he said.

The university don, however, fingered the judiciary over the issue, saying the judiciary that’s supposed to protect the democratic process has made itself part of the problem. “We have situations where a high court will give a particular position relying on a particular provision and another one in another state will give a contrary judgement still relying on the same provision. So, what is the real interpretation of such provision?”

“But personally, I believe anybody that defects from a political party should leave the seat and everything behind. That will go a long way to help sanitise the system. We usually vote for parties in Nigeria and not individuals. Until when an independent candidate comes in who should also lose the perks of his office if he defects or resigns. But it is important that the parties should play a key role to discipline its members going forward,” he added.

For the President National Political Science Association (NPSA), Prof Hassan Saliu, “It is only the court that will decide the correct interpretation of the provision to see whether there was crisis or not before the defection.

“But politicians are primarily in politics to realize their political ambitions all over the world. Making impact is only next, it’s about capturing political power. So, if they see that their interest will not be fulfilled in a party, the Constitution allows them to defect once it’s established that there is a crisis. Hence, they will always cross carpet because of this and there is no way we can legislate against that for them not to defect.

“The morality behind the defection is what people are talking about, not whether it’s necessary or not, but its part of democracy. The court will tell us which one is superior, morality or law? So, we are not yet there, let’s exercise some patience and see what the court will say,” he submitted.