Court Strikes Out Suit Seeking To Remove Zamfara Governor, Matawalle Over Defection

The Federal High Court in Gusau, Zamfara State capital, on Monday, struck out a suit filed by some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state against Governor Bello Matawalle over his defection last year from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court said although it has no jurisdiction to hear the case, since it is neither a pre-election nor post-election case, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not prohibit a governor from defecting from a party.

The judge, Bappa Aliyu, said the constitutions of the APC and PDP also do not make it unlawful for a governor to decide and defect to any other constitutionally recognised political party operating within Nigeria.

Mr Aliyu said if it were a pre-election case, it should have been filed before an election petitions tribunal, as the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to handle it.

On the request by the plaintiffs, including Bashir Saleh, Abduhamid Haruna and Ibrahim Turaki, to remove the governor on the grounds of defecting from the PDP, as presented by their counsel, J. C. Shakaka, Mr Aliyu said it is only an election petitions tribunal or the state House of Assembly that has the power to do so.

He, therefore, charged the plaintiffs to pay the sum of N1 million to each of the four defendants, including Governor Matawalle, the APC, INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation, as compensation for their time wasted.

Mr Matatwalle and his deputy, Mahdi Aliyu, had all taken their offices on the platform of the PDP after the Supreme Court disqualified candidates of the APC who had been declared winners in the 2019 governorship election.

The governor last year defected to the ruling APC, following which the PDP members asked the court to remove him for abandoning the platform on which he was elected.

Ironically, the State House of Assembly on Friday began an impeachment process against the deputy governor who refused to join the other elected officials in the state in moving from the PDP to the APC.