The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced a strict anti-defection policy that will require all its candidates for elective positions to sign legal documents committing them to surrender their seats if they leave the party after winning elections.
The new policy, unveiled on Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, is expected to affect prominent members, including the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and other politicians who recently joined the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Under the arrangement, aspirants seeking the party’s ticket for various offices will be required to sign indemnity forms and sworn affidavits pledging loyalty to the party throughout their tenure if elected.
The NDC leadership said the move was designed to protect the party’s electoral mandates, strengthen discipline and prevent the wave of defections that has weakened many political parties in Nigeria.
Speaking during the signing ceremony attended by candidates and aspirants, the National Chairman of the NDC, Moses Cleopas, said the decision was reached during the party’s National Executive Committee meeting.
According to him, the party was determined to build a strong institution that would outlive the ambitions of individual politicians.
“In our last NEC meeting, a motion was moved, supported, and established that when we take over the government, people elected on the platform of our party must respect the party’s instrument,” Cleopas said.
“This is not just a party for one man to rise and achieve his ambitions and do anything he likes with the party.
“This is a political party that we desire to groom and hand over to the next generation.”
He noted that one of the biggest challenges confronting Nigeria’s political system was the tendency of elected officials to abandon the political platforms that sponsored them shortly after assuming office.
According to him, politicians often cite disagreements with party leaders or internal disputes as reasons for switching allegiance, sometimes joining ruling parties for strategic advantage.
“One thing we have come to observe is that in the present polity, when people contest elections and win under political parties, they become gods,” he said.
“And in between the time that they ought to have, they will just use one minor excuse to dump the platform and perhaps go into the ruling party.”
Cleopas cited the experience of the Labour Party after the 2023 elections as an example of how defections can weaken opposition parties.
“A very typical example that we have all seen in the last three years is the Labour Party, where so many individuals won elections under the platform of the party.
“Now, we are in another election cycle. Go and check their history. How many of the people who won elections under the Labour Party and were inaugurated are still members of the party?
“If all of them had remained, you and I can imagine how the Labour Party could have been today, even if they had not won the presidency. When you see these kinds of things happening, it is expedient that you start to think of how to guide your political parties,” he stated.
The NDC chairman stressed that membership of the party remained voluntary and that no one was being compelled to join.
However, he insisted that anyone seeking to contest under the party’s platform must be prepared to abide by its rules and internal regulations.
“If you want to contest the election under the platform of the NDC, you are free to come. Nobody is forcing you,” he said.
“But when you come, you should know that there are certain rules by which we, as a political party, guide our members.”
He added that elected officials should not abandon the party after benefiting from its structure and support.
“One of them is that if you contest an election under our platform and win, under no circumstances, as against what is provided for in the 1999 Constitution, will you just wake up to say that I don’t like the NDC again, or I don’t like the face of my national or state chairman. Therefore, now that I am already elected, I am leaving the party.”
Cleopas explained that the indemnity and affidavit forms were designed to ensure that candidates understood the implications of defecting after securing office through the party.
“If you win, the mandate is owned by the party. If you otherwise choose to leave, go the same way you came and leave what you picked from here,” he stated.
“That is why we brought our National Legal Adviser and his team to prepare documents that include affidavit and indemnity forms for every candidate in all categories to fill and take the oath.”
Also speaking, the party’s National Legal Adviser, Reuben Egwuaba, defended the policy and argued that political parties are voluntary associations governed by rules accepted by their members.
“A political party is just like a club, church or mosque where there are rules and regulations,” he said.
“That is why the 1999 Constitution, under Section 222, states that a candidate of a political party is just a mere agent of the party.”
“And once a candidate is declared the winner and inaugurated, until the expiration of the tenure upon which that candidate won the election and was inaugurated, the mandate belongs to the political party, not any other.”
“So, if you are privileged to win the election after clinching the party ticket, that does not mean the mandate belongs to you.”
Despite the significance of the policy, several top figures expected to be affected by it, including Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, were absent from the event.
Their absence immediately attracted attention, given their prominence within the party and their history of moving across different political platforms.
Obi’s political journey has seen him move from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and eventually the NDC.
Kwankwaso has also belonged to several parties, including the PDP, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the ADC and the NDC.
Political defections have become a recurring feature of Nigeria’s democracy since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
While some politicians argue that defections are necessary when parties become divided or fail to uphold their principles, critics insist that the practice undermines party ideology, weakens opposition politics and betrays the trust of voters.
The NDC’s latest move appears aimed at reversing that trend and ensuring that elected officials remain committed to the party that provided them with a platform to seek public office.
Whether the anti-defection pact will withstand legal scrutiny or discourage future defections remains to be seen.
However, as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum, the policy has already reignited national debate about political loyalty, party discipline and who truly owns an electoral mandate in Nigeria’s democratic system.