The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has exempted its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from its newly introduced anti-defection oath, despite insisting that all candidates contesting on the party’s platform are ordinarily required to sign the loyalty pledge.
The National Secretary of the party, Ikenna Enekweizu, disclosed this on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended the controversial measure as a constitutional provision contained in the party’s internal rules.
The anti-defection oath was introduced by the NDC as part of efforts to curb the growing trend of politicians abandoning the parties on whose platforms they were elected, a development that has weakened opposition parties and altered political balances across the country.
Defending the policy, Enekweizu argued that political parties, like other voluntary associations, have the right to establish binding rules for their members.
“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.
He dismissed criticisms that the oath violates constitutional rights, maintaining that party members voluntarily subject themselves to the provisions of the party’s constitution upon joining.
However, Enekweizu revealed that the party had made an administrative decision to exclude Obi and Kwankwaso from the requirement, despite the constitutional provision mandating candidates to 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 party’s primary concern is not with the president or governors but with lawmakers who frequently defect after securing electoral victories on the party’s platform.
“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,” Enekweizu said.
The NDC recently unveiled the anti-defection measure as part of what it described as efforts to protect its institutional integrity and prevent elected officials from treating the party as a temporary vehicle for attaining political office.
Party leaders have repeatedly cited the wave of defections that has affected several political parties in recent years as justification for the policy, insisting that the NDC is determined to build a lasting political institution rather than serve as a platform that politicians abandon after winning elections.
