Dogara Vows to Appeal Judgment Sacking Him from House

Segun Awofadeji

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has vowed to appeal the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering him to vacate the House for his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Dogara, who represents Bogoro, Dass/ Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State in the House, was sacked on Friday by Justice Donatus Okorowo.

The former speaker defected from PDP to APC in 2020 following a disagreement between him and the incumbent governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed.

Following his action, the PDP filed suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/20 against him and four others at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Justice Okorowo in his ruling, held that having defected unlawfully, the former speaker could no longer retain his seat.

The judge declared that having defected from PDP, the party that sponsored him, to the APC before the expiration of his tenure, Dogara is no longer qualified to retain his seat in view of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution.

He upheld the argument by the plaintiff that, having defected from the PDP that sponsored him, Dogara ought to vacate the seat.

While holding that Dogara’s action was prohibited by law, the judge noted that the aim of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution was to check political prostitution among members of the legislative arm of government.

The judge, who ordered Dogara to vacate the seat forthwith, proceeded to declare the seat vacant and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct election for his replacement.

But reacting to the judgment, Dogara, who spoke through his lawyer, Mr. JJ Usman (SAN), said he had  instructed  his lawyers to appeal the judgment.

He said: “The judgment has just been delivered and we have briefed our client right from the court and he has expressed dissatisfaction against the judgment and has instructed that we file an appeal immediately which we shall do on Monday.  

 “The decision of the court that there is evidence of defection to APC is not substantiated by any shred of evidence in the Court’s record. We are proceeding to the Court of Appeal immediately,” Usman explained.