NDC Moves to Stop Defections, Orders Candidates to Sign Seat-Forfeiture Pact

(NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas displaying the indemnity form at the commencement. Photo by Gaskiyacast)

The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has rolled out a new measure aimed at discouraging defections among its members after they have won elections.

Under the new policy, all governorship and National Assembly candidates are required to sign indemnity forms committing them to vacate their seats should they leave the party after securing victory on its platform.

The initiative was unveiled by the party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, during a signing ceremony held at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.

The event was attended by aspirants and candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Cleopas clarified that the move was not intended as a witch-hunt but was designed to protect the integrity of electoral mandates and curb what he described as post-election political migration.

He stated that the party would not tolerate situations where elected officials abandon the platform that brought them into office while still seeking to retain their mandate, stressing that the mandate belongs to both the party and the electorate who voted through that platform, meaning anyone who leaves the party after winning cannot continue to hold the seat.

He explained that the policy was meant to ensure candidates clearly understand and accept this condition before contesting elections under the NDC, noting that once a candidate accepts the party’s ticket, they become bound by its terms, and leaving the party would mean relinquishing the seat as well.

Drawing on examples of political realignments across other parties, including the Labour Party, Cleopas argued that such cases reinforced the need for stronger internal safeguards, pointing to instances where individuals won elections under the Labour Party banner only to later move elsewhere, a trend he said the NDC was determined to prevent.

On the legal foundation of the policy, Cleopas referenced provisions within both international and domestic legal frameworks, arguing that while freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, this right does not automatically extend to retaining elective office after defecting from a party.

He specifically cited relevant provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which guarantee political participation and freedom of association, including the right to join or leave political parties.

He also referenced provisions within the 1999 Constitution, as amended, arguing that democratic rights must be balanced against party-based electoral mandates, maintaining that elected officeholders emerge through party nomination systems and therefore cannot separate their mandates from the platform that sponsored their election.

Expanding further on the constitutional basis of the policy, the party’s National Legal Adviser, Reuben Egwuaba, explained that the NDC’s own constitution contains enforceable provisions on defection.

He cited specific articles within the party’s constitution, which he said establish that elected officials remain bound to the platform through which they were elected, stressing that once someone is elected under the NDC, their mandate remains tied to the party, and resigning from the party would mean forfeiting the office.