As far as decamping is concerned in recent years, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been the most favoured political party in Nigeria. On Tuesday, two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the House of Representatives announced their defection to the APC. Similarly, seven days after Senator Ned Nwoko announced his defection to the ruling party, Salisu Garba Koko, representing the Koko, Besse, Mayama federal constituency of Kebbi, followed suit.

In Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution, a member must vacate his seat if:

(g) 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.

Between February 2024 and February 2025, there have been about 300 political defections.

The internal crisis clause has been the major excuse that most defectors have tendered to the House.

In a letter addressed to the Chairman of the PDP in Ward 8, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State, Nwoko cited this same reason.

“My decision to resign is due to the deep divisions and factionalisation within the party. These divisions have made it increasingly difficult to unite and pursue the collective interests of our people,” Nwoko claimed.

“Just this week, on the 29th of January, top party functionaries descended to the lowest levels by physically fighting among themselves due to these irreconcilable factions.”

What FIJ found interesting, however, is that this reason can be cited even when the factionalisation claim is debatable. Also, the debate would only kickstart if anybody opposes it, and that does not necessarily translate to the seats of the defectors being declared vacant.

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When Husseini Jallo and Adamu Tanko, the two aforementioned defectors, announced their defection to the House of Representatives, they also cited division in the PDP. Kingsley Chinda, the PDP Minority Leader, however, objected to their decamping. He claimed that there was no evidence before the House. He said they had not done the right thing and had failed to carry out their defection properly.

In the case of Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers State Governor, who challenged a majority of the state’s defecting representatives in court, the Supreme Court dismissed the case for lack of substantial evidence.

‘MEDIA REPORTS ARE NOT ENOUGH’

In December 2023, 27 Rivers lawmakers loyal to Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister and former Rivers governor, announced their defection to the APC. They were all elected on the PDP platform. Their reason was the same as Nwoko’s.

The lawmakers were those under the leadership of Martin Amaehwule, Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly.

The announcement was made at the House’s 87th plenary session.

In a continuation of the underlying political crisis in the state, Fubara decided to unseat the lawmakers through the court.

The Supreme Court ruled that Fubara had no substantial evidence against the defection of the 27 lawmakers and that media reports could not be tendered as tenable evidence before the court.

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HOW CAN THE DEFECTION BE PROVED IN COURT?

Fubara’s argument was dismissed despite the lawmakers making the announcement of their own volition and many news reports about it.

FIJ got the opinion of a legal practitioner to know what would have served as tenable evidence in the case.

Ridwan Oke, a lawyer, explained that a letter written by the defectors to a party’s ward chairman could have served as evidence.

“What would serve as evidence is that the person that is defecting would have written a letter to their ward chairman within the party, notifying them of their defection. Without that, nothing else is tenable,” Oke said.

“What the court said in Fubara’s case is that there was no evidence attached to show that they defected.”