- Says Political Prostitution Must Not Be Rewarded
A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has sacked the member representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State in the House of Representatives, Abubakar Gummi, following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Obiora Egwuatu ordered Gummi to refund all monies he collected as salaries and allowances beginning from October 30, last year, when he decamped to the APC, to the Federal Government.
He ruled: “An order is made directing that the evidence of the refund of all monies collected as salaries, allowances, or howsoever called, be filed in the Registry of this court within 30 days of the judgment of this court.”
Additionally, the court restrained Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, from further recognising Gummi as representing the constituency, and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, within 30 days, conduct a fresh election to fill the vacant seat.
The judgment followed a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, brought before the court by the PDP and its state Chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, who, in the originating summons, filed on November 29, last year, listed Gummi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and INEC as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.
Among other things, they prayed the court to determine whether, having regard to the provisions of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), it was not unconstitutional for the lawmaker, who decamped from the political party that sponsored his election, to continue to retain the seat.
The plaintiffs insisted there was no crisis in the party to validate the lawmaker’s defection, arguing that it was wrong for him to transfer PDP’s electoral victory to the APC.
They also urged the court to declare that it was unconstitutional for the Speaker of the House of Representatives to refuse or fail to declare Gummi’s seat vacant.
The court dismissed Gummi’s objections challenging the competence of the suit, arguing that his defection was due to crises he said bedeviled the PDP, citing alleged lingering internal and external crises at both the national level and in his constituency.
Gummi had told the court that the crisis had reached a stage where he could no longer represent his constituents properly to ensure they benefited from the dividends of democracy without undue interference from anyone or anything.
However, Justice Egwuatu criticised the attitude of politicians who see defection as a normal practice, saying: “Before I take my fingers off the keyboard, let me add that politicians should respect the wishes of the electorate who elected them into office.
“A situation where the electorate 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 a politician to abandon the party under which platform he or she was elected and move to a rival party without relinquishing the mandate of the former party.
“If a person must decamp, don’t decamp with the mandate of the electorate. Don’t transfer the votes garnered on the platform of one party to another party.
“A politician has no right to transfer votes of a political party to another party. The law must punish such moves by taking away the benefits bestowed upon the decampee by the electorate. And that is what Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution has done.
“Political prostitution must not be rewarded. In total, I resolve all the issues in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants.”
The court held that Gummi, having defected from PDP to APC before the expiration of the period for which he was elected “automatically loses his seat as a member of the House of Representatives.”
Justice Egwuatu issued an order restraining Gummi from further receiving monies as salaries, allowances or howsoever called, in his capacity as the member representing the constituency.
The court also awarded a cost of N500,000 in favour of the plaintiffs.
