From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked Hon. Abubakar Gummi, the lawmaker representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State in the House of Representatives, for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Gummi’s defection was unconstitutional and ordered the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to immediately stop recognising him as a member of the Green Chamber.
The judge also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in the constituency within 30 days to fill the vacant seat.
The ruling followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, filed by the PDP and its Zamfara State Chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, through their counsel, Ibrahim Bawa (SAN). They listed Gummi, the Speaker of the House, and INEC as first to third defendants.
In their submission, the plaintiffs argued that Gummi’s defection violated Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which forbids lawmakers from abandoning the political party that sponsored their election unless there is a division within that party.
They asked the court to declare his continued stay in office unconstitutional and to compel the Speaker to declare his seat vacant.
Gummi, however, argued in his defence that he left the PDP due to internal crises at both the national and state levels, which, according to him, made it difficult to effectively represent his constituents.
But Justice Egwuatu dismissed his argument and granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.
Condemning the increasing rate of defections among politicians, the judge stated that such actions undermine the mandate of the electorate.
“Politicians must respect the wishes of the electorate who elected them into office. When voters choose a candidate based on the manifesto of a political party, it is both legally and morally wrong for such a politician to abandon that platform midterm and cross to another party without relinquishing the mandate,” he said.
He described such acts as “political prostitution,” insisting that they should not be rewarded.
“If a person must decamp, don’t decamp with the mandate of the electorate. A politician has no right to transfer the votes of a political party to another. The law must punish such moves by taking away the benefits bestowed upon the decampee by the electorate,” the judge added.
Justice Egwuatu further ordered Gummi to refund all salaries and allowances he had received from October 30, 2024, to the date of judgment and to submit evidence of repayment to the court within 30 days.
He also restrained the lawmaker from further receiving any remuneration in his capacity as a member of the House of Representatives and awarded a cost of N500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs.
