By Ismail Auwal
A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, ordered former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to vacate his seat.
Dogara, who represents Bauchi State’s Bogoro/Dass Federal Constituency, served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019.
The presiding judge Justice Donatus Okorowo, declared that having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dogara was no longer qualified to occupy the seat by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution.
The former speaker 2019 dumped PDP for APC after he was re-elected to represent Dass, Tafawa Balewa, and Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State at the National Assembly.
He, however, defected to the APC on July 24, 2020, after he submitted a resignation letter to the PDP Chairman of Bogoro ‘C’ Ward in the state.
Frustrated with his actions, the PDP and its Bauchi State Chairman, Hamza Akuyam, petitioned the court, led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, to declare his seat vacant.
According to the Judge 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 was prohibited by law, agreed that the aim of Section 68(1)(g) was to check political prostitution among legislators.
“The judgment is, therefore, given in favour of the plaintiffs. I hereby grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs,” he declared.
