MUSA DATTIJO MUHAMMAD, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): On 19th March, 2015, having found the appeal and the cross-appeal to which this judgment relates unmeritorious, I dismissed the two and promised to give my reasons today. The reasons are provided anon.
The facts which brought about the two appeals are herein under stated.
The appellant contested and won the Akure North/South Federal Constituency seat on the platform of the Labour Party. He abandoned the party and defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria the A.C.N. He asserts that the factionalization or division in the Ondo State Chapter of the Labour Party accounts for his defection to the Action Congress of Nigeria.
By an originating summons filed on the 26th January, 2012, the appellant as plaintiff commenced Suit No. FHC/AK/CS/31/2012 at the Federal High Court, hereinafter referred to as the trial court, seeking the interpretation of Section 68(1) (a) and (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and a declaration th…