The Federal High Court in Abuja has removed Hon. Abubakar Gummi from office as the member representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delivering judgment, Justice Obiora Egwuatu ruled that Gummi’s defection was unconstitutional since there was no division within the PDP at the time he left the party.
The judge consequently restrained the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, from recognising Gummi as a member of the House and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in the constituency within 30 days.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, was filed by the PDP and its Zamfara State Chairman, Jamilu Jibomagayaki, who argued that Gummi’s continued stay in office after defecting violated Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.
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They asked the court to declare his seat vacant and compel INEC to organise a by-election. In his defence, Gummi claimed that his defection was caused by unresolved internal crises within the PDP both at the national and constituency levels, which, he said, hindered his ability to effectively represent his constituents.
Justice Egwuatu, however, rejected Gummi’s arguments and granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs. In a strongly worded ruling, the judge condemned what he described as the growing culture of “political prostitution,” stressing that elected officials have no right to transfer the mandate given to them under one political platform to another.
He ordered Gummi to refund all salaries and allowances received from October 30, 2024, to the date of the judgment and to file evidence of the refund within 30 days. The court also awarded ₦500,000 in costs against Gummi and the other defendants in favour of the plaintiffs.