Since the defection of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara in July last year, there has been an uneasy calm in both the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) which he re-joined.
This stems from the circumstances leading to his leaving the PDP and re-joining APC.
Recent happenings regarding his membership of the two parties have sparked speculations as his status remains shadowy.
Although his defection was confirmed by the acting APC chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, after their visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, Dogara’s defection was not announced on the floor of the House as it was done for other members who joined APC from APGA, PDP and other parties recently.
It could be recalled that the former speaker, who is representing Dass/Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State, left APC for PDP before the 2019 general elections.
Yakubu Dogara, who was at the forefront of the fight to dislodge APC, left the party over the irreconcilable differences with the then Bauchi state governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.
The political war between the duo and others brought in the Senator Bala Mohammed-led PDP administration in the state.
However, the former speaker also fell out with the governor over some political differences forcing him to re-join APC.
At a court sitting to hear a suit filed against Yakubu Dogara and four others by the PDP in Abuja, APC while making a submission in a counter-affidavit, stated that Dogara’s name was not in its register.
Days after, the Bauchi State chapter of PDP also declared that Yakubu Dogara was no longer its member.
The Publicity Secretary of PDP, Yayanuwa Zainabari, who addressed newsmen, Thursday, at the party secretariat, said Dogara was on his own.
The House of Representatives has also maintained sealed lips on the defection of Dogara as the letter of the former speaker announcing his defection had not been read on the floor of the parliament.
Similarly, the former speaker has kept silent on the issue. He has also not been very active in the activities of the House since he left the speaker’s seat.
In an interview with our reporter via telephone, an APC official in Bogoro said he was not sure the former speaker had been issued the APC membership card at his unit.
But a state official of the party confirmed Dogara’s membership of the party, dismissing doubt on the status of the former speaker’s defection from the PDP.
Speaking, Abdulhamid Mohammed Esq, said based on the provision of section 68 (g) of the Constitution, 1999, a member of the House of Represents, who before the expiration of their tenure decamp to another political party, would be made to vacate their seat.
“If APC is now coming to court to say that they don’t have record of him being their member, it means that from all intents and purposes, their case may not likely succeed. If the other party that has filed a suit cannot prove either by document or any register to show that Dogara has become a member of the APC, then it means they may not likely succeed with their case,” he said.
For now, only an official disclosure and explanation by the parties involved, as well as the determination of the suit in court, will solve the raging controversy on Dogara’s defection.
