Court sacks Yakubu Dogara from House of Reps
Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been ordered by a Federal High Court to abandon his seat as a member of Bauchi State's Dass, Tafawa Balewa, and Bogoro Federal Constituency.
In a ruling, Justice Donatus Okorowo ruled that because Dogara moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), he was no longer competent to hold the seat under Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution.
Justice Okorowo agreed with the PDP (plaintiff) that by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly before the end of his tenure, Dogara should leave the seat since he was no longer competent to participate in the lower house's proceedings.
The judge, who ruled that the legislator's actions were illegal, recognized that the purpose of Section 68(1)(g) was to prevent political prostitution among politicians.
