Aminu Tambuwal, the Governor of Sokoto state, will not be removed from his position following his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This is according to a ruling by a federal high court in Abuja.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who presided over the case, said that the court of appeal had previously ruled in multiple cases that governors cannot be forced to forfeit their seats on the grounds of defection. Until the supreme court overturns those judgments, they remain binding on lower courts.
The judge also criticized the lawyers representing the plaintiff for not informing their client that the issue was pending before the apex court, saying it would be futile for a federal high court to rule on a matter already before the supreme court.
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The case, which was marked FHC/ABJ/CS/449/2022, was brought by the APC, which asked the court to use sections 177, 179, and 189 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to declare Tambuwal’s governorship seat in Sokoto state vacant because he defected to the PDP.
The APC argued that since Tambuwal had won the election under its platform, he should forfeit the seat after switching parties.
Tambuwal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and PDP were all named as defendants in the case. However, the court dismissed the case, stating that previous rulings had already established that governors could not be removed from office solely based on their defection from one political party to another.
