NDC Moves To Stop Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, Others From Defecting To Another Party

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced a strict anti-defection policy compelling all candidates seeking elective positions on its platform to sign indemnity and affidavit forms before receiving the party’s ticket.

Naija News reports that the policy, unveiled on Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, requires candidates who win elections on the NDC platform to vacate their seats if they defect to another political party before the expiration of their tenure.

The development is expected to affect prominent members of the party, including its presidential candidate, Peter Obi; his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; and other recent entrants into the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking during the signing ceremony attended by some candidates and aspirants, the National Chairman of the NDC, Moses Cleopas, said the decision was taken to protect the party’s electoral mandate and strengthen internal discipline.

Cleopas said the party 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.

He said the new policy was approved at the party’s National Executive Committee meeting as part of measures to prevent elected officials from treating party mandates as personal property.

“In our last NEC meeting, a motion was moved, supported, and established that when we take over the government, people elected on the platform of our party must respect the party’s instrument,” Cleopas said.

“This is not just a party for one man to rise and achieve his ambitions and do anything he likes with the party.

“This is a political party that we desire to groom and hand over to the next generation.”

The NDC chairman said the party had observed that elected public office holders often became detached from the political structures that produced them after winning elections.

“One thing we have come to observe is that in the present polity, when people contest elections and win under political parties, they become gods.

“And in between the time that they ought to have, they will just use one minor excuse to dump the platform and perhaps go into the ruling party,” he said.

Cleopas cited the experience of the Labour Party after the 2023 general elections as one of the reasons the NDC decided to introduce the new rule.

According to him, several politicians who were elected on the platform of the Labour Party later abandoned the party, weakening its political strength despite its gains during the election cycle.

“A very typical example that we have all seen in the last three years is the Labour Party, where so many individuals won elections under the platform of the party,” he said.

“Now, we are in another election cycle. Go and check their history. How many of the people who won elections under the Labour Party and were inaugurated are still members of the party?

“If all of them had remained, you and I can imagine how the Labour Party could have been today, even if they had not won the presidency. When you see these kinds of things happening, it is expedient that you start to think of how to guide your political parties,” he added.

Cleopas said the NDC was not forcing anyone to join the party, but stressed that those seeking to contest elections on its platform must be ready to submit themselves to its rules and internal discipline.

“If you want to contest the election under the platform of the NDC, you are free to come. Nobody is forcing you. But when you come, you should know that there are certain rules by which we, as a political party, guide our members,” he said.

“One of them is that if you contest an election under our platform and win, under no circumstances, as against what is provided for in the 1999 constitution, that you will just wake up to say that I don’t like the NDC again, or I don’t like the face of my national or state chairman. Therefore, now that I am already elected, I am leaving the party.”

The party chairman said all candidates, irrespective of the office they are seeking, would be required to sign affidavit and indemnity documents before being allowed to fly the party’s flag.

Cleopas said the documents were prepared by the office of the National Legal Adviser to ensure that candidates understood the consequences of leaving the party after winning elections on its platform.

“If you win, the mandate is owned by the party. If you otherwise choose to leave, go the same way you came and leave what you picked from here,” he stated.

“That is why we brought our National Legal Adviser and his team to prepare documents that include affidavit and indemnity forms for every candidate in all categories to fill and take the oath.”

Also speaking, the National Legal Adviser of the NDC, Reuben Egwuaba, defended the policy, saying political parties were voluntary associations guided by rules and regulations accepted by members.