…“I remain Ebonyi governor”, Umahi insists
Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, along with his Cross-River State counterpart, Ben Ayade, now face an uncertain future following the sack by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, of Engr. Dave Umahi, governor of Ebonyi State, the deputy governor, Dr. Kelechi Igwe and 17 members of the State’s House of Assembly for defecting to the All Progressives Congress, (APC).
Recall that both Matawalle and Ayade defected to the APC from the PDP in 2021, and subsequently faced court actions over their defections.
The Ebonyi State governor, who won a second-term seat as governor under the platform of the PDP in 2019, defected to the APC in November 2020, alongside the deputy governor, Dr. Kelechi Igwe and 17 members of the State legislature, all of whom were sacked by the Abuja High Court yesterday.
The court had, in a judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the total number of 393, 042 votes Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the state belonged to the PDP, and that 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 political party”.
The court held that the PDP is bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by electorates in Ebonyi State, as both governor Umahi and his Deputy could not validly transfer same to APC. It, therefore, ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions.
It also 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.
In the case of the 17 lawmakers also sacked yesterday, Justice Ekwo held that the lawmakers, having abandoned the political party that sponsored them, could not transfer the mandate they obtained from the ballot to another political party.
The court held that the Defendants, who became members of the House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP, could not justify their defection when there was no division in the PDP. It held that section 109(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution was purposely couched to ensure that defectors were not allowed to retain their seats in the House unless such defectors are able to justify their action.
Consequently, it ordered the lawmakers to immediately vacate their positions, even as it restrained them from further parading themselves or acting as members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
It further ordered all the lawmakers to refund all salaries and monies they received from the period they defected to the APC.
The judgment, by implication, means that governors of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle who defected to the APC from the PDP in June 2021, along with the state’s lawmakers, and Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade who did the same in May last year, may suffer a similar fate.
Meanwhile, Umahi has stressed that he remains the Governor of the State not minding the ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Briefing newsmen in his office at the new Government House, Abakaliki, Governor Umahi, who described the ruling as “jungle justice that was purchased”, noted that the ruling was not a good development for the Judiciary.
