Court throws out suit seeking sack of Saraki, Dogara, 52 others over defection

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has struck out a suit seeking an order declaring vacant the seats of of Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and 52 National Assembly members who defected from the political parties which sponsored their elections to others before the general election.

The Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) had sued Saraki, Dogara, Senator Godswill Akpabio and others.

Delivering judgment on the matter on Friday, the presiding Jude, Justice Okon Abang, said LEDAP lacked the legal right to institute it.

Abang held that LEDAP’s status as a registered corporate body under the Company and Allied Matters Act was not sufficient to confer the right to institute the action on behalf of the public.

“The plaintiff that instituted this case is not a political party that sponsored the election of the lawmakers,” Abang ruled.

“Also the plaintiff is not Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) that regulates the activities of political parties and monitor elections. The plaintiff is not a registered voter in Nigeria.

“They are not members of the national assembly. None of the political party that sponsored the lawmakers is a party in this case.

“They, therefore, lack the capacity, legal power to institute the case. The plaintiff’s case is incompetent and thereby struck out.”

Over 14 senators defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while 37 members of the House of Representatives also announced their defection from the ruling party.