By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, has emphasised the need for legislative reforms to curb the defection of elected officials to other political parties.

He argued that the current political landscape necessitates a revision of existing laws to ensure that elected representatives remain accountable to the parties that sponsored their candidacies.

Speaking exclusively with Vanguard in Abuja on Thursday, Ologbondiyan pointed out the constitutional limitations facing the PDP.

He explained that while the party does not possess the constitutional authority to reclaim a governor’s office following defection, it retains the right to pursue legal action when parliamentarians — senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state assembly members — decide to abandon the party.

“We do not have the constitutional authority to recover the governor’s office. However, when it comes to parliamentarians, if they choose to leave the party, the party has the constitutional right to seek legal recourse for those seats. It was the party that was elected, not the individual,” he elaborated.

The former spokesperson expressed his firm support for any legislative initiative that addresses this issue, stressing that holding elected officials accountable is vital to the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic process.

Highlighting the importance of statutory reform to preserve party loyalty, the PDP stalwart stated: “Given the current state of our politics, it is crucial that we revise our statutes and laws to ensure that those elected on a specific party platform are held accountable and cannot betray the mandate for which they were elected.”