Defection: PDP’s Legal Team to Oust Zamfara Governor Constituted

• A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Godwin Kanu-Agabi, has a new mandate
• His brief as the lawyer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to ensure the removal of Bello Matawalle as Zamfara governor
• Matawalle left the party recently and joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) sparking outrage within the PDP

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FCT, Abuja - The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved a legal team led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Godwin Kanu-Agabi, to challenge the defection of Governor Bello Matawalle.

Matawalle recently joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP after the Supreme Court disqualified the APC in the Zamfara governorship elections in 2019.

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PDP strikes back after Matawalle's defection

ThisDay newspaper reports that the legal action was not limited to Matawalle, as it would also challenge the legality of the defection of members of the national and state assemblies from Zamfara state.

Kanu-Agabi would lead a team of lawyers, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), when the suit challenging the defections would be filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja this week.

PDP would seek the interpretation of the entire Section 68 of the constitution as regards members of the national and state assemblies, who also defected from PDP to the APC with Matawalle.

While some senior lawyers insist that no law prevents an elected governor from leaving for another party, some argue that the governor should relinquish his mandate on account of the platform with which he came into office.

Gusau assumes leadership of PDP in Zamfara

ThisDay newspaper had earlier reported that a massive crowd of PDP supporters on Saturday, July 10 came out to welcome the deputy governor of Zamfara state Mahdi Aliyu Gusau.

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According to the report, Gusau returned to the state for the first time since his decision to stay put in the PDP after his principal defected to the APC.

Those who accompanied the deputy governor include his father General Aliyu Gusau (rtd), and PDP caretaker committee members.

Gusau, 32, had earlier expressed his resolve to remain in the PDP.

The deputy governor said he remains a member of the opposition PDP despite the move of his boss to the APC.

He also stated that he is ready to assure the position of the PDP leader in the state.

Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Teejay Yusuf has berated Governor Matawalle for decamping to the APC from the PDP.

In a statement sent to Legit.ng on Wednesday, June 30, Hon. Yusuf, a PDP member representing Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency of Kogi state in the green chambers, asserted that it is in the PDP's interest that highly-placed members with suspicious loyalty leave the party.

He said their exit from the party will enable the PDP to sort out itself before the next elections in 2023.

Source: Legit.ng