2027: NDC Exempts Obi, Kwankwaso From Anti-Defection Oath

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has exempted its presidential candidate for the 2027 elections, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from the party’s anti-defection oath. 

According to the National Secretary of the NDC, Ikenna Enekweizu, the anti-defection affidavit applies only to the party’s candidates for National Assembly and state house of assembly positions.

“The constitution says everybody running under the platform of the party has to sign, but the party has taken the administrative decision that those required to sign in this instance do not include the presidential candidate and his vice,” Enekweizu said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

“We are more concerned about those elected into the legislative assemblies who get in there and defect within a year,” he said, adding that “Our main focus is not the governor; it’s not the president, it’s the national and state assembly members elected on the platform of our party.”

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According to him, the NDC introduced the measure after observing the defection of lawmakers elected mostly under the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, joining other parties.

Enekweizu explained that while many conceive the idea as against the freedom of association, the move is a self-preserving measure.

The NDC secretary said the party is “trying to prevent a situation where people see our political party only as a special purpose vehicle for winning elections.

“We are trying to build a party that will last and stand the test of time—where people do not just say, ‘Oh, because a particular person is contesting under this platform, let us go there, and the moment we win elections, we all leave.’”

According to the NDC, which unveiled the decision days ago, the move will help limit the defection of elected politicians from the party as the 2027 elections draw closer.