PDP Begins Legal Onslaught to Reclaim Mandate From Defectors

…Party Seeks Sack of Four NASS Members Who Joined APC
…NEC Insists on Legal Action to Reclaim Mandates

By John Paul

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has intensified its legal and political offensive against lawmakers who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), filing fresh suits at the Federal High Court in Abuja to unseat four of its former members representing Osun State in the National Assembly.

The affected lawmakers are Senators Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East) and Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central), along with Reps Omirin Olusanya (Atakumosa East/West, Ilesa East/West) and Taofeek Ajilesoro (Ife Central/East/North/South). The suits, lodged on August 20 by PDP counsel Rapheal Oyewole, argue that their continued stay in office violates Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates automatic loss of seat upon defection unless the party suffers a genuine national split.

The PDP is asking the court to declare the seats vacant, compel Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to announce the vacancies, and direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections. It also seeks withdrawal and refund of all salaries and allowances paid to the defectors since their exit. The cases, which also list the National Assembly and its Clerk as defendants, are yet to be assigned to a judge.

This latest move comes against the backdrop of a broader strategy adopted at the party’s 101st National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja. Alarmed by rising defections to the APC at both national and state levels, the NEC directed the National Working Committee to aggressively pursue legal cases to enforce Sections 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) of the Constitution.

In the NEC communique read by National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, the party insisted that defections trigger seat vacation unless rooted in a national crisis that cripples the party’s operations. “Defection on account of state-level disagreements is no defence under the Constitution,” Ologunagba said.

Experts note that the PDP’s argument leans on Supreme Court precedent, particularly Ifedayo Abegunde v. Ondo State House of Assembly (2015), where the apex court ruled that only a nationally significant division can shield a defector. Abegunde, who moved from the Labour Party to ACN citing a state-level rift, was stripped of his mandate. Similar rulings include the 2019 judgment that voided Sonni Ogbuoji’s Ebonyi South senatorial seat after his defection from PDP to APC, and a 2006 Plateau case where 14 PDP lawmakers lost their seats after crossing to another party.

However, analysts caution that the PDP may still face an uphill legal battle, as courts have sometimes declined to enforce such provisions strictly, especially when defectors cite localised party crises. Enforcement has often stalled, even when rulings favour the original party.

Meanwhile, NEC also fixed the PDP’s national elective convention for November 15 in Ibadan, with INEC notified formally and committees constituted to ensure credible preparations ahead of the event. Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum had urged members to stay united, declaring: “We remain Nigeria’s hope, founded to fight injustice, strengthen democracy, and lead with honour.”

The party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Sen. Adolphus Wabara and represented by Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, struck a conciliatory tone, urging restraint in comments about defectors. “We may not recover all, but we must remain open to returning members and new contributors,” the BoT had previously advised.

PDP insiders insist that recovering lost seats is central to rebuilding the party’s strength ahead of 2027. “The battle is legal, political, and moral,” a senior party official said. “We must show Nigerians that a mandate belongs to the people, not to individuals who trade it at will.”