Nigeria’s politics underwent a significant transformation in 2023, marked by several pivotal events. This period also witnessed the emergence of new political parties that reshaped the country’s political landscape.
Legit.ng journalist Bada Yusuf is an accomplished politics and current affairs editor, boasting over seven years of experience in journalism and writing.
Before the year 2023, the political space in Nigeria was dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leading opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Photo Credit: Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Peter Obi, Peter Mbah
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Over time, politicians have pursued their ambitions elsewhere when feeling threatened by their political parties, which is why defection has become a common practice.
Some of those who made strong statements as they decamped in 2023 are listed below:
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Rabiu Kwankwaso
The former governor of Kano was one leading figure who made a strong statement in 2023 after dumping the PDP and contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Since joining the NNPP, which was formed before the 2023 presidential election, Kwankwaso has become the face of the NNPP. This development has recently created controversies in the party, with founding members trying to establish that he was not the party’s founder.
However, Kwankwaso had an impressive outing during the February 25 presidential election as he swept 997,279 in Kano, defeating President Bola Tinubu of the APC and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP in the state.
Peter Obi
Obi’s defection from the PDP to the Labour Party (LP) was one of the defections that shook Nigeria’s political terrain in 2023.
The former vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 election took the move after realising that he might not become the presidential candidate of the main opposition party.
The Obidient movement of Peter Obi was vocal in the general election that its tsunami affected many strong political figures and brought many new faces into Nigerian politics.
In the February 25 presidential election, Obi became a major threat to Tinubu and Atiku and gathered over six million votes.
Alex Otti
One defection story that rocked the 2023 election was Alex Otti’s dumping of the APC and joining the Labour Party in Abia state. He joined the LP alongside the factional chairman of the APC in Abia state.
The now governor of Abia once contested for the governorship ticket of the ruling APC but was defeated. Shortly after he joined the Labour Party, he went ahead to win the governorship election in the state.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah
The senator representing Anambra south announced his defection from the Young Progressive Party (YPP) to the ruling APC on the floor of the senate.
In his letter to senate president Godswill Akpabio, the Anambra-born politician cited the crisis rocking the leadership of the YPP.
Aside joining the APC from the stronghold of Peter Obi, Ubah has been elected as senator on the platform of the YPP on two different occasions.
Can politicians decamp from one party to another under the Constitution?
However, Section 109 (1) of the 1999 Constitution has restricted Nigerian lawmakers from dumping their party for another before the expiration of their tenure.
Titilope Anifowoshe, a legal practitioner, who spoke with Legit.ng, said this position was upheld by “the Supreme Court in Sunday Ifedayo Abegunde V Ondo State House of Assembly & Ors’ (2014) LPELR- 23683 and in a plethora of cases.”
She went further to note that defecting lawmakers can hold on to Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution on the condition that their party is divided. The legal icon said:
“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not 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.”
While the law allowed lawmakers to dump their parties, other influential figures dumped their political parties to pursue their ambitions.
Wike, Rivers Crisis: SDP, APC members join Fubara-led PDP
Earlier, Legit.ng reported the drama that trailed the defection of Nyesom Wike’s loyalists from the PDP to the APC in Rivers state.
This came as members of the APC and SDP joined Governor Siminalayi Fubara-led PDP hours after the lawmakers’ move.
According to the decampees, their actions were influenced by the failure of the former PDP lawmakers to give the reason why Governor Fubara was served an impeachment notice.
Source: Legit.ng
