A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and the Deputy Governor, Dr Eric Igwe, to vacate their offices, after their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The order was made on Tuesday by Justice Inyang Ekwo, who in the judgement described their defection as unconstitutional.
Why the Governor and his Deputy were sacked by the court
According to NAN, Justice Ekwo declared that having defected from the PDP, under which platform they came into power, to the APC, the duo were deemed to have resigned from the office and, hence, no longer entitled to be called the governor or deputy governor.
The judge said it was constitutionally wrong for a candidate elected into an office on a platform of a political party to defect to another political while still holding on to the office adding that the votes gotten by Umahi and Igwe on March 9, 2019, were PDP votes and not APC.
Court also sacks Ebonyi lawmakers
- Also, in a similar circumstance, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja, has ordered the 16 lawmakers from Ebonyi to vacate their seats after their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
- Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment, ordered the lawmakers to stop parading themselves as representatives of the people after dumping the party on which platform they were elected into the house of assembly.
- Some of the lawmakers include Odefa Obasi Odefa, Victor Chukwu, Kingsley Ikoro, Joseph Ununu, Nkemka Okoro, among others.
Details later…