The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday set aside the October 30, 2025, judgment by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, sacking Abubakar Gummi as a House of Representatives member.

In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that the trial court was wrong to have declared Mr Gummi’s seat vacant on the grounds that he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform he contested the election, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Gummi, representing the Gummi/Bukkuyum federal constituency of Zamfara in the House of Representatives, had defected from the PDP to the APC, citing various reasons, including the party’s leadership crisis, particularly at the national level.

Delivering the Court of Appeal’s verdict, Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi, who read the judgment, held, among others, that the appellant (Mr Gummi) has an inherent right, in the face of the notorious fact of the current state of affairs in the PDP, to abandon the party.

Mr Oyewumi upheld the reasons given by Mr Gummi in support of his decision to decamp from the PDP.

The court further held that a party member has the right to seek a better platform to contest an election if his or her present platform is threatened.

The court proceeded to allow the appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1606/2025.

It further set aside the judgment of the trial court in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1803/2024, filed by the PDP and Zamfara State’s chairman of the party, Jamilu Jibomagayaki.

The court awarded N1 million in costs against the PDP and Mr Jibomagayaki, in favour of Mr Gummi.

Mr Gummi said the crisis in the party caused a situation where he could no longer properly represent his constituents or ensure that they all benefited from the shared distribution of democracy’s dividends within the bounds of law, without undue interference from anyone or anything.

(NAN)