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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Few issues have weakened Nigeria’s political party system as much as defections. From the First Republic to the present democratic dispensation, politicians have routinely won elections on one platform only to migrate to another after securing office. The practice has contributed to the weakening of party ideology, voter distrust and the steady erosion of opposition parties.
It is against this backdrop that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has unveiled what may be the most ambitious anti-defection measure by any political party in Nigeria’s democratic history: a mandatory affidavit requiring candidates to surrender their seats, if they defect from the party after winning elections. The policy, announced at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, requires candidates to sign indemnity and affidavit forms before their names can be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to the party, the documents will serve as a binding commitment that any elected official who defects from the NDC must relinquish the office won on the party’s platform. For a political environment where defections have become almost routine, the move has generated both praise and skepticism.
NDC national chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, said the party’s decision arose from years of watching politicians treat party platforms as temporary vehicles to power. According to him, the party was founded after a careful assessment of Nigeria’s political landscape and the recurring weakening of parties through defections by elected officials.
“We could no longer ignore the recurring trend of politicians winning elections on the platform of political parties only to abandon the same parties after securing office,” Cleopas said.
He argued that electoral mandates belong primarily to political parties rather than individual politicians.
“The mandate belongs to the party and the people. If you are elected on our platform and decide to leave after winning, then you cannot continue to hold the seat,” he said.
Cleopas further explained that the initiative was approved by the party’s National Executive Committee as part of efforts to strengthen internal discipline and preserve the sanctity of electoral mandates. The NDC chairman repeatedly stressed that the party was not preventing anyone from exercising constitutional rights.
“Today you may belong to one political party and tomorrow decide to join another. That is your constitutional right. You can even decide not to belong to any political party at all. But if you were elected through a party, then the mandate is tied to that platform,” he argued.
The party’s leadership has described the initiative as an anti-decamping mechanism designed to curb what it calls “political prostitution” and strengthen party ideology. Similarly, the NDC’s National Secretary, Ikenna Enekweizu, defended the decision by arguing that political parties, like other associations, have a right to establish internal rules for their members.
“Every member who subscribes to the membership of the party is bound by the provisions of the constitution of the party and decisions taken by the party’s properly constituted authorities,” Enekweizu said.
The Constitutional arguments
The NDC’s legal justification draws heavily from existing constitutional provisions on defections. Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that a member of the National Assembly shall vacate his or her seat if he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which the House was elected.
The only exceptions are where there is a division within the political party that sponsored the member or where the party merges with another political party. A similar provision exists in Section 109(1)(g) for members of state Houses of Assembly.
The NDC believes these provisions support its argument that political mandates are inseparable from the political parties that sponsored candidates.
The party has also cited Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and constitutional guarantees of freedom of association to argue that while politicians may leave parties whenever they wish, they should not retain mandates secured through those parties.
The party’s legal adviser told candidates that the affidavit would become part of their nomination documents and that failure to submit it could prevent their names from being uploaded to the INEC portal. According to him, the NDC constitution contains provisions requiring elected officials to remain loyal to the platform through which they were elected and to surrender offices obtained on that platform if they resign their membership.
The NDC initiative is impossible to understand without examining Nigeria’s long tradition of defections. During the Second Republic, the defection crisis significantly affected parties such as the defunct People’s Redemption Party (PRP). Internal disputes weakened the party after the elections of 1979, leading to divisions among prominent members and reducing the party’s effectiveness as an opposition force.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP), which produced the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola in the historic June 12, 1993 election, also experienced fragmentation after the annulment of the election and the collapse of the Third Republic. In the Fourth Republic, defections became even more common.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), once considered a major regional force, repeatedly lost lawmakers and governors to larger national parties. Several legislators elected on APGA’s platform eventually defected to either the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the All Progressives Congress (APC), weakening the party’s legislative influence.
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Perhaps, no party illustrates the problem more dramatically than the Labour Party. Following the 2023 general election, the party emerged as a major national force, producing scores of federal and state lawmakers. Yet within months, internal disputes and political pressure triggered a wave of defections and attempted defections.
Several lawmakers elected under the Labour Party platform either crossed over to other parties or became involved in prolonged legal battles over their political future. It was this trend that Cleopas referenced when he warned that politicians should not use parties merely as vehicles to gain office before abandoning them.
“In the Labour Party, we have seen situations where people win elections on the platform and later move elsewhere. That is the kind of thing we are trying to stop,” he said.
The Peoples Democratic Party and the APC have also suffered repeated defections. Between 2023 and 2026, several opposition governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives moved to the ruling APC, often citing internal crises in their original parties.
Despite its boldness, legal experts say the NDC initiative faces significant hurdles. The first challenge is that the Constitution already outlines the circumstances under which lawmakers can lose their seats. Sections 68 and 109 provide exceptions that have often been interpreted broadly by politicians seeking to justify defections.
Many defectors routinely claim that divisions within their parties justify their actions.
Secondly, the Constitution is largely silent regarding executive office holders such as presidents, vice presidents, governors and deputy governors. Legal scholars have repeatedly pointed to this gap. In the landmark case involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Supreme Court held that there was no constitutional basis to remove him from office merely because of his defection from the ruling party.
This means an affidavit signed before an election may face constitutional challenges if it conflicts with rights already guaranteed under the Constitution. Another problem is enforceability. Can a political party legally compel an elected senator, governor or lawmaker to resign simply because an affidavit was signed before an election?
The answer is far from settled
Critics argue that once elected, an office holder derives legitimacy directly from the Constitution and the electorate, not merely from a contractual agreement with a political party. Others question whether a court would enforce such an affidavit if doing so would effectively remove an elected official from office without following constitutional procedures.
There is also the possibility that candidates may challenge the affidavit itself as unconstitutional, arguing that it restricts their freedom of association.
Whether the affidavit survives judicial scrutiny may ultimately be less important than the message it sends.
For decades, Nigerian politicians have defected with little political or legal consequence. Party manifestoes have often become secondary to personal ambition, while voters who supported one platform frequently find themselves represented by politicians serving another.
The NDC initiative seeks to reverse that culture. It signals an attempt to redefine political parties as institutions with enduring identities rather than temporary electoral vehicles. It also forces candidates to publicly declare their loyalty before seeking office, thereby creating moral and political consequences for future defections.
Even if some aspects of the policy are challenged in court, it has already succeeded in igniting a national conversation about the ownership of electoral mandates.
Political experiment worth watching
The NDC’s anti-defection affidavit is arguably the most innovative political party reform proposal to emerge in Nigeria in recent years. It is rooted in frustrations shared by millions of Nigerians who have watched elected officials repeatedly abandon the parties that sponsored them.
The policy may yet encounter constitutional obstacles, judicial resistance and practical enforcement challenges. Questions remain over whether an affidavit can override constitutional protections or compel elected officials to relinquish office.
Yet its significance lies in the fact that it directly confronts one of the most persistent weaknesses in Nigeria’s democratic system.
If successfully implemented and backed by the courts, the initiative could dramatically reduce the culture of defections that has plagued Nigerian politics for decades. More importantly, it could strengthen party ideology, improve accountability and restore confidence in the relationship between voters, political parties and those elected to represent them.
For now, the NDC has thrown a stone into one of Nigerian politics’ most stagnant ponds. Only time will tell how far the ripples will spread.
