Political Defections: What The Nigerian Constitution Says

The role of political parties in Nigeria is paramount to the governance of the Nation. The Constitution places so much importance on political parties to the extent that individual candidacy is still a subject of debate. A political party according to the Constitution includes “any association whose activities include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election to the office of President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or membership of a legislative house or of a local government council.” The Electoral Act followed the definition in the Constitution when it provides that “a political party include any association of persons whose activities includes canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election under this Act and registered by the Commission.” The presence of political parties to a large extent presents the State as democratic as it is alien to have political parties in a military regime

However, The rate of defections in Nigeria calls for the examination of the provision relating to the effect and consequences of cross carpeting from one political party to another.

Political defection is the change of party allegiance from a party where a person (politician) belonged to another political party, political defections are usually out of self-interest. Reasons for political defections have been attributed to political interest, the pursuit of political ambition, internal party division, lack of transparency in party processes, lack of political ideology, and political agenda.

The majority of candidates move from one party to another in order to secure tickets or when they feel injustices have been done to them in their political parties.

The legitimacy of political defections in Nigeria is drawn from the Fundamental Human Right which is in section 40(6) of the Nigerian constitution. This section states that “Every person is entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union and association in the protection of his interests”

However, there are situations where defection is illegal even though the right to freedom of association still holds true. Section 68 (1) (g) of the Nigerian constitution makes party defection grounds for removal for members of the national assembly. This section states that A member shall vacate his seat “being a person whose election to the house was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored ”.

However, this section only addresses members of the national assembly and is silent on all other elective positions.

It is interesting to note that unlike the purport of above provisions Sections 135 and 180 of the said Constitution which provides for circumstances under which the President or his vice, and a Governor or his Deputy could cease to hold office does not mention party defection as a ground for vacating or ceasing to hold office.

The 2010 Electoral Act also attempts to forestall political defections with some of its provisions but it has not been very successful in reducing the indiscriminate abandonment of one party for another by politicians. Attempts to introduce bills on the floor of the National Assembly to curtail defections have also been unsuccessful.

From the above provisions therefore Nigerian law on carpet crossing could be summarised as follows:

A legislator in Nigeria could lose or vacate his seat in parliament if he defects from the party that sponsored him into the legislative house to another party.

A Nigerian Governor, Deputy Governor, President or vice President cannot vacate or cease to hold office for defecting from the political party that sponsored him into office to another.

Before a legislator in Nigeria could be made to lose his seat in parliament for defecting to a party other than the one that sponsored him into the house, the principal officer of that legislative house( the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Speaker of the State House of Assembly as the case may be) or a member of that legislative house must first present evidence satisfactory to the legislative house concerned that a member has defected from the political party that sponsored him into the house to another political party and has by operation of law vacated his seat in Parliament.

It follows from the above that if there is no satisfactory evidence presented to the legislative house on a member’s defection, the member who is alleged to have defected can still retain his seat. He will however continue to be known and addressed as a member of the party that sponsored him into the House.

A legislator in Nigeria can cross carpet to a party other than the one that sponsored him into the house and still keep his seat if he can prove that his defection was as a result of a division within his former party.

Also, a legislator in Nigeria will not lose or vacate his seat even though he has defected from the party sponsored him to another party if he can prove that his membership of a new party is as a result of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he has previously sponsored.

The position that while a legislator in Nigeria is liable to lose his seat in parliament for cross carpeting to another party, the President, vice President, Governor or Deputy Governor is not liable and cannot be forced to vacate or cease to hold office for the same reason was endorsed by the Nigerian Supreme Court in the case of AGF v Atiku Abubarkar (2007) 4 S.C (pt.11) 62 where the issue before the court was whether the Vice President’s defection from the PDP( on whose platform he was elected into office) to the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) meant that he had automatically vacated and ceased to hold that office.

The Supreme Court held that it is only legislators that are liable to vacate their seats in parliament for defection to a different party from the one that sponsored them into office. The Supreme Court held that the constitution does not envisage or provide for the vacation or cessation of the office of the President, Vice President, Governor or Deputy Governor for defection from the party that sponsored them into office to another party. The Apex court held therefore that Vice President Atiku Abubarkar was entitled to stay in office even though he had defected from the PDP to the ACN.