Court order sacking Umahi, deputy is reckless, says APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the court order sacking David Umahi and Eric Kelechi Igwe, as governor and deputy governor of Ebonyi state, is “reckless”.

On Monday, Inyang Ekwo, judge of a federal high court in Abuja, held that the 393,042 votes polled by Umahi in the March 2019 governorship election belonged to the PDP and cannot be legally transferred to the APC.

In a statement, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, APC director of publicity, said the judge committed a “glaring judicial error” by ordering Umahi’s sack without relying on any provision of the constitution.

Dambatta said the judge did not understand the difference between governorship candidate of a political party as contemplated by the electoral act and duly-elected governor.

According to him, the court relied on an “outdated” supreme court case of Rotimi Amaechi and Celestine Omehia.

“The presiding judge committed a glaring judicial error by giving judgement sacking a duly elected and sworn-in governor and his deputy without relying on or citing any provision(s) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria or any provision of the electoral act that empowers the court to sack a sitting governor and or his deputy,” the media director said.

“This is purely a travesty of Justice.

”It will be noted that a state high court sitting in Ebonyi state presided by Hon Justice Henry Njoku (who is more Senior in Bench than Hon Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court 5 Abuja) has given judgement on the issues sought in this Ekwo judgement.

“It is absolutely ridiculous and questionable, as it is shameful that a judge could decide a weighty matter such as conditions for sacking the governor of a state without relying on any express provision of the constitution or electoral act or judicial authority either of superior courts or even courts of coordinate jurisdiction.

“The constitution of Nigeria upholds the supremacy of the right of association of persons (even to defect from one political party to the other).”

Dambatta asked Ebonyi residents to disregard the verdict because it is “dead on arrival”.