By Our Reporter
Determined to avoid the fate of parties weakened by post-election defections, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced an anti-defection oath for candidates contesting on its platform, while exempting its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso. The move comes against the backdrop of the experience of the Labour Party, where several politicians elected in 2023 later abandoned the platform for other parties, leaving the party with little political benefit from their victories.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, the party’s National Secretary, Ikenna Enekweizu, said the loyalty oath was rooted in the NDC constitution and aimed at protecting the party from politicians who use a platform to win elections before defecting. “First and foremost, a political party is like any other association, and every member who subscribes to the membership of the party is bound by the provisions of the constitution of the party and decisions taken by the party’s properly constituted authorities. Within NDC, the decision to make people sign that affidavit is provided for in our constitution,” he said.
Enekweizu dismissed claims that the measure violates the Constitution, insisting that members of voluntary associations are bound by the rules they willingly accept. However, he disclosed that the party had made an administrative decision to exclude Obi and Kwankwaso from the requirement, despite a constitutional provision stating that all candidates running on the party’s platform should sign the oath. “The constitution says everybody running under the platform of the party has to sign, but the party has taken the administrative decision that those required to sign in this instance do not include the presidential candidate and his vice,” he stated.
According to him, the NDC’s primary concern is not the presidency or governorships but lawmakers who defect shortly after elections. “Our main focus is not the governor; it’s not the president, it’s the national and state assembly members elected on the platform of our party,” he said. The party believes the new rule will help curb the culture of cross-carpeting that benefits individual politicians while weakening the political platforms that brought them to office.