Ebonyi State governor, Umahi, hung in the balance as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sacked him and his Deputy
By Emma Ogbuehi
In what is no doubt a very consequential judgement, the political fate of the Ebonyi State governor, Engineer David Umahi, hung in the balance on Tuesday as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sacked him and his Deputy, Dr. Eric Kelechi Igwe, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Umahi, a two-term governor of the Southeast State was elected both terms on the platform of the PDP. But he defected to the APC in 2021 and has declared to run for the 2023 presidential election on the platform of his new party.
But the court, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the total number of 393,042 votes Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi State, belonged to the PDP and same could not be legally transferred to the APC.
Read Also: 17 Ebonyi lawmakers sacked for following Umahi to APC
According to the court, having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy, not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.
It held that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state, “belong to the Plaintiff and no other political party”.
“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other”.
The court held that the PDP was bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by the electorate in Ebonyi State, as both Governor Umahi and his Deputy could not validly transfer same to APC.
The court, therefore, ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions.
It ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to immediately receive from the PDP, names of persons to replace Umahi and his Deputy, or in the alternative, conduct a fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi State in line with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The court further restrained both Umahi and Igwe from further parading themselves as governor or deputy governor of Ebonyi state.
The judgement followed a suit the PDP lodged before the court.
The judgement is consequential and will have far reaching impact on electoral politics in Nigeria.
This is the first time a governor is being sacked from office for jettisoning the political party on which platform he was elected.
Many politicians have been switching political parties at will without consequences.
