[JUST IN] Court Sacks Gov Umahi Over Defection To APC

• The court held that having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy, not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it

• The court therefore ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions and stop parading themselves as…

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked Governor Dave Umahi and his deputy, Eric Igwe, over their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgement, on Tuesday, held that their defection was unconstitutional.

Read also: Fani-Kayode Lied, Never Played Any Role In My Defection To APC – Gov Umahi

The two-term governor, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), joined the APC in 2020.

The judge maintained that the total number of 393, 042 votes the governor 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.

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 politcal party”.

“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other”.

The court therefore ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions and stop parading themselves as Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively.

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 fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi state in line with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Recall that an Ebonyi State High Court’s ruling had ealier struck out the suit challenging Umahi’s defection to the ruling party.

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