The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has introduced a strict anti-defection policy requiring all its candidates for elective offices to sign indemnity and affidavit forms, committing to vacate their seats if they defect from the party after winning elections.
The 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 recent entrants into the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during the signing ceremony attended by some candidates and aspirants, NDC National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, said the move was aimed at protecting the party’s electoral mandates and strengthening internal discipline.
“The mandate belongs to the party and the people who voted through that platform. If you leave the party after winning, you cannot continue to hold the seat,” Cleopas declared .
According to him, the decision was informed by repeated cases of politicians winning elections on party platforms only to defect to rival parties after securing office.
“We are putting this in black and white. Once you take the ticket, you are bound by it. If you leave, you leave with the seat,” he stated .
Cleopas cited the experience of the Labour Party after the 2023 elections as justification for the new policy, noting that the party had lost all its senators to defections and court rulings .
“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?” he asked.
The party’s National Legal Adviser, Barrister Reuben Egwuaba, defended the policy, describing political parties as voluntary associations governed by internal rules accepted by members .
He cited Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the NDC Constitution, which establish that elected officials remain bound by the party platform through which they were elected.
“These provisions make it clear that once you are elected under the NDC, your mandate is tied to the party. If you resign from the party, you cannot retain the office,” Egwuaba said .
He added that the affidavit requirement would serve as an enforceable legal undertaking binding candidates before they are cleared to contest.
“Without this affidavit, your name will not even be uploaded to the INEC portal. It is a strict requirement,” he stated.
Despite the significance of the policy, several prominent party figures, including Obi and Kwankwaso, were absent from the event. The development is widely seen as an attempt by the NDC to avoid the wave of defections that has weakened several opposition parties in recent years.
Obi’s political career has seen him move from the All Progressives Grand Alliance to the Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party, the African Democratic Congress and eventually the NDC. Kwankwaso has also belonged to multiple parties, including the PDP, the All Progressives Congress, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, the ADC and the NDC .
Former Adamawa State governorship candidate, Aishatu Binani, is also among recent entrants into the party, having moved from the APC to the ADC before joining the NDC in 2026 .
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