The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has reacted to his removal as the governor of the state by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Umahi, who described the judgement of Justice Inyang Ekwo as a sham, accused him of doing a hatchet job, saying that he remains the governor of the state and will not vacate office for anyone.
This was made known by Umahi while briefing journalists in his office at the new Government House, Abakaliki, where he described the ruling as jungle justice that was purchased, noting that the ruling was not a good development for the Judiciary.
What the Ebonyi State Governor is saying
Umahi urged the people of the State to remain calm as he was sure of quashing the ruling at the Appeal Court and noted that the court lacks the powers to remove him as Governor as he is covered by immunity clause which protects him from any form of litigation that is not pre-election or tribunal matter.
He said, “Nobody can remove me as the govenor of the state as we know where the judgement came from.
“Justice Ekwo has more than 10 cases against the state government and we will see where this leads him,
“We have petitioned Ekwo before the National Judicial Council (NJC) as his continued stay on the bench is disaster for the country.
“People should not panic as I, the governor, is not distracted at all.’’
He said that the development will not affect his presidential ambition, noting that his legal team would appeal the judgement.
He said, “The constitution stipulates that the only way a governor can be removed from office is through death, resignation or impeachment by the state House of Assembly.
“There is no constitutional provision that empowers a hatchet man to turn the constitution or law of the land on its head.
“The Supreme Court’s recent judgement on Zamfara among others attests to this fact as I remain the governor of the state.’’
In case you missed it
- Recall that earlier today, Nairametrics had reported that Justice Inyang Ekwo of Federal High Court in Abuja, 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).
- Justice Ekwo, in his judgement, 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 governor or deputy governor.
- The judge also 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.
Concerning the order restraining the national assembly from expunging section 84(12) of the electoral ACT is a stupidity on the parts of the federal high court judge.