BREAKING: Court Sacks Yakubu Dogara From National Assembly Over Defection

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the House of Representatives, from the National Assembly.

Infoexpert24 reports that the former Speaker between 2015 and 2019 currently represents Bogoro/Dass Federal Constituency of Bauchi in the green chamber of Nigeria’s parliament.

Dogara had defected to the PDP in 2020, citing a breakdown of governance under Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, where he hails from.

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In a letter of resignation addressed to the Bogoro ‘C’ Ward Chairman of the PDP dated July 24, 2020, Yakubu Dogara said though he helped install Mohammed as governor in 2019, he could ask questions about the state of government without being accused of disloyalty.

Elected speaker on the APC platform in 2015, he defected to the PDP after the National Assembly leadership fell out with President Muhammadu Buhari in the build-up to the 2019 elections.

He had worked against the reelection of then-Governor Mohammed Abubakar whom Bala Mohammed defeated in 2019.

The suit was filed after a Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, on the account of their last year’s defection from the PDP to the APC.

The plaintiffs, through their counsel, Jubrin Jubrin, said by virtue of section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, Dogara, by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the 9th National Assembly before the expiration of his tenure, ought to vacate the seat as he was no longer qualified to partake in the activities of the lower house.