The House of Representatives, is reportedly considering making a President, Vice President, Governor, or Deputy Governor, lose their seat, if they defect from the political party where they were elected into Office, Page 36 learnt.
The 1999 Constitution as amended only prescribes such for National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly Members.
A member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from Taraba State, Rimamnde Kwewum, has now sponsored a Bill to extend the condition to the President, Vice President, Governor, and Deputy Governor.
The Bill, which is awaiting second reading by the House, seeks to amend sections 144 (1) and 189 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, “to check incidents of defections, that is, cross-carpeting or abandoning the political party that sponsored a president, vice-president, governor or deputy governor, as the case may be, for another political party, in the absence of a merger of political parties, division or factions within the sponsoring political party”.
Hon. Kwewum, in the legislative brief on the Bill said: “Presently, only Legislators in the National and State Houses of Assembly lose their seats, if they defect to other political parties. The intention remains the need to improve and deepen democracy by strengthening the political parties.
“There is no doubting the fact that all through history, political parties have remained the strongest pillars of democracy. They provide choices for people by professing and working through some governing philosophies, and help to educate people on different patterns of developments being proposed by the different political parties.
“Often regarded by political parties which sponsored them as leaders, presidents and governors cannot abandon their political parties and retain the seat that they earned by the sponsoring political parties.
“There is, therefore, a need to ensure that political parties retain their hold on the states or governments that they have won. Fact is that under the present constitution, you cannot run for that office without the party.
“Winners of elections, by this logic, are simply agents of the political parties.”
Speaking further, he said that it is important therefore, that once an elected person (the President, Vice President, Governor or Deputy Governor abandons the position to which they were elected, “it means they no longer have confidence in the political party, and do not share the same ideologies or principles”.
He added: “Principled people ought not to be told to vacate such Offices.”
