From Godwin Tsa, Abuja

The Abuja division of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara from the House of Representatives and declared his seat vacant.

Justice Donatus Okorowo in his judgment on Friday, held that it was wrong for Dogara, who represents Bogoro/Dass Federal constituency of Bauchi State, to have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and therefore should vacate the legislative seat.

Mr Dogara who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2015 and 2019 .

He crossed over to the APC, on July 24, 2020, following a frosty relationship between him and his state governor, Bala Mohammed.

Specifically, Dogara who was elected speaker on the APC platform in 2015, decamped, alongside dozens of other lawmakers, to the PDP in the build-up to the 2019 general election.

After a while, he decamped to the APC following some political differences with Governor Bala Mohammed.

Donatus Okorowo, declared that having defected from Peoples Democratic Party to All Progressives Congress, Dogara was no longer qualified to occupy the seat by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution.

Justice Okorowo aligned with the argument of the PDP that by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly before the expiration of his tenure, Dogara ought to vacate the seat as he was no longer qualified to partake in the activities of the lower house.

The judge, who held that the action of the lawmaker is prohibited by law, agreed that the aim of Section 68(1)(g) was to check political prostitution among the legislators.

“The judgment is therefore given in favour of the plaintiffs I hereby granted the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs,” he declared.

the PDP and one of its members in Bauchi State had, in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/20, sued Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Other defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.

Meantime, the court had in an earlier judgment, dismissed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/883/30 and filed by Incorporated Trustees of United Global Resources for Peace Organisation against Dogara and five others on the grounds that the group lacked locus standi to institute the matter.

The PDP and the group had asked the court to remove the former speaker of the lower house as a member representing Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, over his defection to APC.

The plaintiff, through their counsel, Jubrin Jubrin, said by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, Dogara by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly before the expiration of his tenure, ought to vacate the seat as he was no longer qualified to partake in the activities of the lower house.