Benue: PDP loses bid to unseat defected lawmaker Ojotu Ojema

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suffered a major setback after a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed its suit seeking to unseat the member representing Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency, Hon. Ojotu Ojema, following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Umar struck out the suit for lack of merit, effectively affirming Ojema’s continued membership of the House of Representatives despite his exit from the PDP.

The PDP had approached the court to challenge Ojema’s occupancy of the seat after he defected from the opposition party to the ruling APC in 2025, citing internal crises within the PDP as the reason for his decision.

In his ruling, Justice Umar upheld the argument of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that only the Speaker of the House of Representatives has the constitutional authority to declare a lawmaker’s seat vacant and subsequently notify the electoral body of such vacancy. The court noted that no such declaration had been made concerning the Apa/Agatu federal lawmaker.

The court also agreed with submissions by counsel to the APC that persistent divisions and crises within the PDP provided sufficient legal grounds for Ojema’s defection, a position recognised under the law.

Having found merit in the arguments of the respondents, the court dismissed the suit in its entirety, handing a significant legal victory to the lawmaker.

Ojema, who chairs the House Committee on National Inland Waterways, formally dumped the PDP for the APC in October 2025, citing unresolved internal conflicts within his former party. His defection gave the APC complete control of Benue State’s seats in the House of Representatives.

Political observers say the judgment not only strengthens Ojema’s position in the Green Chamber but also reinforces judicial precedents recognising party division as a valid basis for political defection under certain circumstances.