A Federal High Court in Abuja ordered former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to vacate his seat as a member representing Dass, Tafawa Balewa, and Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State.
The court declared that Dogara’s defection from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) has disqualified him from continuing sitting was no longer qualified to occupy the seat by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Donatus Okorowo aligned with the argument of the PDP that defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly before the expiration of his tenure was illegal and that he must vacate the seat.
The judge, who held that the action of the lawmaker is prohibited by law, agreed that the aim of Section 68(1)(g) was to check political prostitution among the legislators.
It would be recalled that the PDP and one of its members in Bauchi State had, in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/20, sued Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Other defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the APC as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.
In a related development, Okorowo had, earlier in a judgment, dismissed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/883/30 and filed by Incorporated Trustees of United Global Resources for Peace Organisation against Dogara and five others on the grounds that the group lacked locus stand to institute the matter.
