Umahi appeals sack, accuses judge of doing ‘hatchet job’

Dave Umahi, Ebonyi state governor, and Eric Igwe, the deputy governor, have appealed the federal high court judgement which ordered their removal from office.

In the notice filed on Wednesday, Umahi and Igwe listed eight grounds of appeal against the lower court’s judgment.

They are seeking an order setting aside the judgement delivered on Tuesday, March 8.

They described the judgment as a “sham”, and accused the presiding judge of doing a “hatchet job”.

“There is no provision in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which state that Governor or deputy Governor will vacate his office if he defects from his political party to another political party,” the appeal reads.

THE CONTENTIOUS RULING

A federal high court in Abuja had ordered the removal of the governor and his deputy over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Inyang Ekwo, the judge, held that the 393,042 votes polled by Umahi in the March 9, 2019 governorship election belonged to the PDP and cannot be legally transferred to the APC.

Umahi left the PDP in November 2020, attributing the action to the “injustice” done to the south-east.

Consequently, the PDP instituted a suit against the governor, his deputy, the APC and INEC.

In the judgment, the court held that having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy not only dumped the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to the party.

It held that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state “belongs to the plaintiff and no other political party”.

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

The judge held that the PDP is bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by the electorate in Ebonyi, as both the governor and his deputy cannot validly transfer the same to the APC.

The court also sacked 16 members of the Ebonyi state house of assembly who defected with the governor.