THE LEGAL/CONSTITUTION BASIS OF POLITICAL PARTY DEFECTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Politicians in Nigeria have continued to lay claims to their fundamental rights to freedom of
association as a means of moving in and out of political groups at will, a development,
though not alien to the nation’s political system, which is however gradually assuming a
frivolous status, thus raising concerns in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.
Provisions were made in the 2010 Electoral Act as safeguard against indiscriminate crosscarpeting from one political party to another, which spelt out conditions under which an
elected officer can defect, but the inherent loopholes in the safeguards were today still being
exploited by politicians. The sixth National Assembly also made attempts at stopping the
distasteful practice through Constitution amendment, but the particular clause which sought
to strip members of the National Assembly and House of Assembly of their seats on
defection could not get the required two-third backing from the states. A similar move was
made in 2012 when two members of the House of Representatives, Eddy Mbadiwe and
Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Albet Sam-Tsokwa, re-introduced the
bill. But it did not even scale second reading on the floor. Is the trend healthy for the political
development of Nigeria? Does it portend stability for a political party? Does the law
regulating political parties activities allow such defection? What actually is the position of
the law on the subject matter? These questions are begging for answer and this paper seeks to
provide answers to them.