Is the Defection of 21 Members of the Kano State House of Assembly an Automatic Forfeiture of Their Seats in the Light of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution?’
Sequence to the rift between Abba Kabir Yusuf and his political godfather, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Abba Kabir Yusuf (the Governor of Kano state) was widely reported to have resigned his membership from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the platform that brought him to power. This move was tagged by many as political betrayal and consequently generated public uproar across Kano State and beyond.
However, the uproar assumed a more complex legal colouration when, on the 26th day of January 2026, SaharaReporters reported that twenty-one (21) members of the Kano State House of Assembly had openly declared their defection from the NNPP to the All Progressives Congress (APC). This report was not speculative; as it was supported by a 4 minutes 16 seconds video, circulated widely which can be accessed at the SaharaReporter’s twitter handle, in which the said members, speaking in Hausa language, unequivocally announced their defection at the floor of the House.
While defection by a Governor has settled constitutional implications (or lack thereof), the same cannot be casually said of members of a legislative house. Therefore, the development raises certain legal questions: What happens where members of a House of Assembly defect to a political party that did not sponsor their election?
Does such defection automatically result in loss of seat?
These are the questions this article seeks to address in a few paragraphs below:
Starting with: A Defection to a political party is a process whereby a politician abandons the political party that sponsored him to office and joins another political party not as a result of a division or merger of parties.
The Supreme Court authoritatively defined defection. In R.S.H.A. v. Govt., Rivers State (2025) 7 NWLR (Pt. 1990) 591, the Court held:
‘The word ‘defection’ is synonymous with abandonment, desertion, apostasy, renunciation and rejection. In Politics, defection occurs when a person or group changes their membership from one Political Party to another.’
(Pp. 680-681, paras. H-C)
Importantly, defection is not speculative nor cosmetic. It must be proven. The Supreme Court further evinced in the same case that:
‘Defection is an active term. It manifests itself. It cannot be left to conjecture… For a person or group of persons to be said to have defected, the Political party from which they defected must, at least, be aware of such defection, and the political party where they defected to must also have evidence of their new members.’
(Pp. 681-682, paras. E-D)
Therefore, waving flags on television or issuing public declarations without acknowledgment by the receiving party does not, in law, amount to defection properly so called.
Going further, the law is settled that a President, Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor may defect without any constitutional consequence to their tenure. Such defection does not and cannot lead to forfeiture of office. This position is not the core of this discourse and needs no further elaboration here, as such, I say no more on this. However, members of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly stand on a different constitutional footing, Sections 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) respectively. Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides:
‘A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if…
being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.’
Sections 68(1)(g) of the Constitution provides the same for defected members of the National Assembly, as such, no harm will be done if it’s not reproduced hereunder.
Per Mohammed, CJN held in Abegunde v. O.S.H.A. (2015) 8 NWLR (Pt. 1461) 314 that:
‘The provisions of section 68(1)(g) [In the instance case section 109(1)(g)] of the Constitution are very clear that the appellant… shall vacate his seat… when being a person whose election… was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.’
The question now is: is the Loss of Seat Automatic? This is where public sentiment often parts ways with constitutional reality.
Although Section 109(1)(g) prescribes forfeiture of seat, it is not self-executing.
The Supreme Court settled this beyond controversy in R.S.H.A. v. Govt., Rivers State (Supra) where NWOSU-IHEME, JSC held:
‘The only competent authority to declare the seat of a member vacant for defection is the legislature to which he or she belongs…SECTION 109(1)(G) OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION IS NOT SELF-EXECUTING. THE ALLEGATION OF DEFECTION MUST BE PRESENTED BEFORE THE HOUSE IN SESSION. IF THE HOUSE IS SATISFIED THAT A MEMBER HAS DEFECTED, IT DECLARES HIS OR HER SEAT VACANT.’(Pp. 682-683, paras. H-E)[Capitalizations mine, for emphasis]
Put differently, defection does not operate automatically to vacate a seat. There must first be a legislative proceeding by the House such a member belong, and it’s the House that will declare the office vacant.
The Kano State House of Assembly has 24 members. Before this development, 3 members were already APC members, while the remaining 21 were elected on the NNPP platform, from which the Speaker and Deputy Speaker emerged.
With the defection of the 21 members, the practical question arises:
Does Kano State now have only three ‘competent’ lawmakers? The answer is a resounding NO. Because first, the allegation of defection must be tabled before the House. Second, it is only the House, sitting in plenary, that can determine whether defection has occurred and declare seats vacant. However, in this instance, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are themselves part of the alleged defectors. The remaining three members are neither Speaker nor Deputy Speaker and Section 95(2) of the Constitution provides that where the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are vacant or absent, members shall elect one among themselves to preside. The practical difficulty here is obvious:
Who elects whom among three members for the purpose of questioning the defection of twenty-one others?
This makes the situation legally and practically impossible.
One may, however, say that: can’t the Court intervene instead?The answer is equally settled, as the Supreme Court has consistently held that membership of a political party is an internal affair. In R.S.H.A. v. Govt., Rivers State (Supra), the Court reaffirmed:
‘Membership of a political party is a matter that is strictly within the domestic affairs of the political party and the courts have no jurisdiction to determine who the members of a political party are.’
Therefore, neither the Governor, nor any public office holder whatsoever, nor members of the public can validly approach the court to challenge the alleged defection where the House itself has not deliberated on it. After all, in the instant case, it is almost the entire membership of the House that is affected, thereby making deliberation practically impossible, as there are no members remaining to table the alleged defection, nor are there members to receive and deliberate upon it.
In conclusion, from the foregoing authorities and constitutional provisions, one conclusion stands firm: Defection by members of a House of Assembly does not automatically result in loss of seat.
There must be a legislative proceeding, duly conducted by the House, culminating in a declaration of vacancy. In the absence of such proceedings and given the peculiar paralysis within the Kano State House of Assembly, the twenty-one members remain, in the eyes of the law, valid members of the Kano State House of Assembly.Until the House speaks, the Constitution remains unoffended. And on this: I say no more, hoping I have passed the massage.
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Isah Bala Garba is a level 300 student from Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached for comments or corrections on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isah-bala-garba-301983276 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isah.bala.garba
isahbalagarba05@gmail.com or on 08100129131