Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State, had defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, and the All Progressives Congress had asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to have him removed from his position as governor.
A similar plea on the subject has been rejected by the Court of Appeal in a number of decisions, according to Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo.
According to the Justice, the decision of the appellate court ruling that governors cannot lose their seats due to defection remains enforceable in lower courts because the Supreme Court did not overturn it.
Listed as 1st to 3rd defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/449/2022 are Independent National Electoral Commission, Peoples Democratic Party, and Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal respectively.
The Judge held that counsels ought to have advised their clients appropriately adding that it would amount to an exercise in futility for the High Court to decide on the matter.
Thus, he dismissed the suit for lack of merit.
APC had asked the court to declare the governorship seat of Sokoto State vacant on the account of defection by Tambuwal to another party.
The party claimed that Tambuwal who won the Sokoto governorship election in 2019 under the APC must vacate his seat if he decided to go to another party.