THE INCESSANT DECAMPING AND THE LEGAL IMPLICATION
What a time to be alive as a Nigerian. The series of decamping has taken a new twist which leaves me as a legal practitioner to ask pertinent questions as to the legal implication of the various move by our political leaders. Recently 15 serving senators moved from the ruling All Progressive Congress(APC) to the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) citing various reasons: high handedness of the party leadership, being sidelined during the party convention but what's the position of the law as regards such actions.
The Supreme Court in Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde v Osun State House of Assembly held that a legislator's defection to another party can only be justified if there was a division in the national structures which made it impossible for the party that sponsored his election to function. The highest court in the land posited also that it's only the national leadership of a political party determine the existence or proof of divison in a political party. S.222 of the constitution states instances wheere a party ceases to function taking into the contrast the above provisions of the law same cannot be said of the ruling APC.
The principles laid down by the court in the cases of FEDECO V GONI & A.G FED V ABUBAKAR is to the effect that only such factionalisation, fragmentation, splinter or division that makes it impossible or impracticable for a political party to function as such will by virtue of the provisio to S.68(1)(g) justify a persons defection to another party and the retention of his seat for the unexpected term in the house in spite of the defection otherwise as rightly held by the courts in the various cases stated the defector automatically loses his seat.
I dare say that the provisions of S.68(1)(g) are quite plain, clear, unambiguous and they must be given their oral and literal meaning and as such all defectors should lose their seats as there is no official statement from the party leadership stating any factionalisation or fragmentation whatsoever this should be done in the interest of the sanctity of our democracy.
GOD BLESS NIGERIA!

You are right it didn't start today and if no body is punish for this offence, the trend will continue even the same actors now in PDP will decamp back to APC if they loss their election in 2019. Same thing will happen if PDP win in 2019 election. Majority of the political office holders in this country hardly obey courth order or the law but they want the poor Masses to obey the law. They always preach forgiveness and love, justice, equity and peace but they do opposite of what they preach.