The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review is considering the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to review the grounds for the removal of the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors, especially when they defect from the parties through which they were elected.
The committee, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, has set a December 2025 deadline for the submission of the final draft to the House for consideration and possible adoption.
The committee is set to commence a zonal tour across the country to gather input on the constitution amendment process on Saturday, starting from the North-West cities of Kaduna and Sokoto.
The bill “seeks to alter Sections 143 and 188 to spell out the actions and inactions (one of which includes decamping from one political party to another where there is no evidence of crisis in the original party) which a president, vice president, governor or deputy governor may commit that will constitute gross misconduct and which will make these elected officers liable to be removed, either by the National Assembly or State House of Assembly.”
Recall that in 2006, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar fell out with President Olusegun Obasanjo and subsequently left the Peoples Democratic Party for the Action Congress (now defunct) in preparation for the 2007 elections.
Although Obasanjo advised the then-vice president to resign, the court ruled in Atiku’s favour.
Before the 2023 election, ex-Governors David Umahi (Ebonyi), Ben Ayade (Cross River), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) crossed to the All Progressives Congress, while ex-Governor Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) crossed to the PDP.
Recently, Governors Sheriff Oborevwori and Umo Eno of Delta and Akwa Ibom states respectively, defected from the PDP to the APC.
In an exclusive interview with a member of the constitution review committee, Solomon Bob, on Wednesday, the Rivers lawmaker justified the need for an amendment of the nation’s laws to regulate the incessant cases of defections as being witnessed in the polity.
“There is no political jurisdiction anywhere in the world where elective officers defect from their original political parties and still retain their offices.
“Defections are happening here because we don’t have a political culture of discipline. Politicians are not used to staying in one political party for long, and this is what the bill is trying to cure.
“There should have been no need to make this a constitutional matter in the first place. It is not everything that we should put in the Constitution.
“Have you seen the American Constitution? But I think the bill has some merits so that these issues (defections) can be addressed,” he said.
Speaking with The PUNCH in Abuja, the National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties, Peter Ameh, said there were enough laws in the country to address the subject matter, adding that the 1999 Constitution was not the issue.
“Nigeria’s democratic journey, though marked by resilience, continues to face significant challenges that threaten the sanctity of its constitutional framework.
“As the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review deliberates on amendments to the 1999 Constitution, it is imperative to address critical issues that undermine our democratic system, particularly the pervasive problem of political defections and the lack of legislative independence.
“These issues, rooted in the failure to enforce existing laws and the presence of constitutional loopholes, demand urgent action to safeguard Nigeria’s democracy,” he said.
Speaking on gross misconduct as grounds for the removal of a president, vice president, governor, or deputy governor as outlined in sections 143 and 188, Ameh called for a review to include defection.
Ameh called for a review of the laws to deal with the broader practice of defections among elective officers of the Nigerian state.
“The constitution already provides a framework to address defections in the legislative arm under Section 109(1)(g), which mandates that a member of a House of Assembly vacates their seat if they defect to another political party before the expiration of their term, they should be no exceptions for the declaring their seat vacant.
“This provision, however, is undermined by Section 109(2)(g), which allows defections if satisfactory evidence of a party division is presented. This loophole has been exploited to justify defections without consequence, perpetuating a culture of political opportunism.
“To address this, the constitution must be amended to extend the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) to cover elected officials in the executive arm, such as the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors,” he said.
He also called for the expulsion of Section 109(2)(g) to eliminate the loophole that permits defections based on vague claims of party divisions.
“An unequivocal prohibition on defections during an elected term is necessary. Elected officials who wish to defect should be required to resign, allowing the party on whose platform they were elected to nominate a replacement,” he said.
Ameh lamented that the problem with the country is not the absence of laws but the lack of willpower to enforce them.
“The problem is not the absence of laws but the reluctance to enforce them. Lawmakers must summon the courage to uphold the sanctity of the constitution and resist the temptation to act as a rubber stamp for the executive branch.
“The question arises: must we also legislate to instil courage in our legislators to defend our democracy?
“A pressing concern that requires constitutional reform is the rampant practice of political defections, where elected officials abandon the party under which they were elected to join another.
“This practice is antithetical to the spirit and letter of democratic principles, as it erodes the mandate of the electorate and destabilises the political system,” he said.
In a separate interview with our correspondent, the National President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Yerima Shettima, backed the bill.
He said, “The legislative intervention by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review to amend Sections 143 and 188 of the 1999 Constitution represents a crucial step toward enhancing political accountability, strengthening democratic governance, and mitigating political opportunism in Nigeria.
“By clearly defining actions that constitute gross misconduct, the amendment provides a framework for holding political leaders accountable and ensures that they are answerable to the electorate.
“As Nigeria continues to navigate the complexities of its political landscape, such legislative measures are essential in fostering a culture of integrity and responsibility among its leaders.
“Ultimately, this proposed amendment could pave the way for a more robust and resilient democracy, one that reflects the aspirations and values of its citizens,” he said.
He added that political opportunism, characterised by leaders switching parties for personal gain rather than ideological alignment or public interest, had been a pervasive issue in Nigeria.
He said such behaviour undermined the tenets of democracy and erodes public trust in political institutions.”
A chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Mr Anthony Sani, said upon defection, the defector must be made to vacate his or her seat.
“I understand the concern by the legislators about the gale of defections of elected officials from party to party.
“The angst is because such actions are not only undemocratic but morally preposterous, undemocratic and legally wrong.
“The electoral mandate belongs to the political party which fielded candidates and not to individual candidates.
“So, any elected official who defects to another party should leave the electoral mandate for the party which owns it,” he said.
Sani added, “It is morally preposterous because people vote for certain principles and ideology as contained in the manifesto.
“To ignore what people voted for and defect to another party with the mandate offends many people’s sense of justice.
“The National Assembly should, therefore, enact the law that makes it mandatory for all elected officials to defect and leave behind the electoral mandate.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, said, “The legislative intervention to address this growing concern of defection from one political party to another by elected officials, even when there is no crisis, is in order.
“It is wrong to win an election in one party and you take the mandate to another party.
“If this legislative intervention succeeds, it will bring some level of seriousness to our polity. It will bring more discipline in the system, and it is a welcome development.”(Punch)
