Nigeria's House Passes Dual Party Membership Ban as Three Senators Defect to APC
The House of Representatives approved penalties of up to two years imprisonment and N10 million fines for dual party membership, even as three opposition senators cited internal crises to justify defecting to the ruling party.
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Nigeria's House of Representatives has passed amendments to the Electoral Act prescribing a two-year jail term, N10 million fine, or both, for citizens who knowingly register or maintain membership in multiple political parties simultaneously.
The amendment, which inserts new subsections into Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026, directly criminalizes dual or multiple political party membership, according to The Whistler. The timing coincides with renewed defections from opposition ranks to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Three senators abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC on Wednesday, citing internal crises within their state chapters as justification for the move, Channels Television reported. The defections continue a pattern that has strengthened the ruling party's legislative majority since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023.
The proposed penalties represent one of the strictest sanctions against party-switching in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria's constitution currently allows lawmakers to defect if their party experiences a verifiable division, though enforcement has remained inconsistent. The new provisions would apply to all citizens, not just elected officials.
In Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara swore in five commissioners approved by the state House of Assembly, according to Vanguard News and Daily Trust. The appointees—Tonye Bellgam, Professor Temple Nwofor, Dr Peters Nwagor, Lekue Kenneth, and Amairigha Edward Hart—join a cabinet that has been at the center of a protracted political crisis between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Fubara remained silent on four other nominees whose status remains unclear, Vanguard reported. The swearing-in follows months of legislative gridlock in Rivers State, where competing factions have challenged the legitimacy of assembly proceedings.
The dual party membership bill must still pass the Senate and receive presidential assent before becoming law. If enacted, it would require the Independent National Electoral Commission to establish verification mechanisms to detect multiple registrations across Nigeria's 18 registered political parties.