The Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, has sacked the member representing the Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara in the House of Representatives, Hon Abubakar Gummi for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delivering a judgment on Thursday, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, restrained the Speaker, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, from further recognising Gummi as a member representing Gummi/ Bukkuyum Federal Constituency.
He further made an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission. (INEC) to conduct a fresh election to fill the vacancy for the constituency within 30 days from the day of the judgment.
Justice Egwuatu who granted all the plaintiffs’ reliefs, condemned the attitude of some politicians who see defection as a normal practice.
“Before I take my fingers off the keyboard, let me just add that politicians should respect the wishes of the electorates that elected them into office.
“A situation where the electorates 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 which 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 electorates.
“Don’t transfer the votes garnered on the platform of one party to another party.
“A politician has no such right to transfer votes of a political party to another political party,” the Judge declared.
To this end, Justice Egwuatu awarded a fine of N500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants.
Recall, the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, was filed by the PDP and its state’s Chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, as 1st and 2nd plaintiffs.
The duo, in the originating summons dated Nov. 28 but filed Nov. 29, 2024, by Ibrahim Bawa, SAN, had sued Hon. Abubakar Suleiman Gummi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and INEC as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively.
