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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Dr Eric Kelechi Igwe, from their respective offices, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
The court equally ordered 16 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly that joined the governor and his deputy in the defection to APC on November 17, 2020, to vacate their seats and refund all salaries and monies received from the day they defected to the APC.
The lawmakers include Odefa Obasi Odefa, Victor Uzoma Chukwu, Kingsley Ikoro, Benjamin Uzoma, Joseph Unuhu, Nkemka Okoro, Anthony Nwegede and Chinwe Nwachukwu.
Others are Onu Nwonye, Friday Nwuhuo, Moses Odunwa, Chinedu Awo, Chinedu Ona, Chukwuma Igwe, Chukwu Lucas and Francis Nwifuru.
The judgements followed two suits, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/920/21 and FHC/ABJ/CS/ 104/21, which the PDP lodged before the court.
Votes belonged to PDP — Judge
Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the total number of 393, 343 votes Governor Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi State, belonged to the PDP and the same could not be legally transferred to 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 offices of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi State, belong to the Plaintiff and no other political party.
“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other,” Justice Ekwo added.
He held that the PDP was bound to retain the votes and mandate given to it by the electorate in Ebonyi State, as both Governor Umahi and his deputy could not validly transfer same to APC.
“The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Defendants have not controverted the assertion of the Plaintiff that it is by the vote of the Plaintiff that the 3rd and 4th Defendants became governor and deputy governor of Ebonyi State in 2015 and 2019.
“In conclusion, let me put it this way, the 3rd and 4th Defendants did not on their own win the election of 9th March 2019 to become governor and deputy governor of Ebonyi State respectively.
“They were sponsored by the Plaintiff in compliance with the provision of Section 221 of the 1999 constitution, as amended. Therefore, it was the Plaintiff (PDP) that the electorate voted for.
“They cannot remain in the office of governor and deputy governor respectively of Ebonyi State after their defection, without the Plaintiff (PDP) that the electorate voted for.
“On the other hand, the 2nd Defendant (APC) was not the party elected by the electorate in the election of 9th March 2019 to govern Ebonyi State. Therefore, the 2nd Defendant (APC) cannot govern Ebonyi state through the 3rd and 4th Defendants when it did not win the election that produced the Governor and Deputy Governor.
“The Constitution is put in jeopardy where the will of electorates when they voted for a political party can be brazenly mechanized by candidates without consequence.
“The act of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Defendants and the position of their respective counsel, in this case, is directed at the political dismantling of the 1999 constitution, as amended. It must be stopped forthwith,” Justice Ekwo held.
He, therefore, declared that having regard to Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the democratic system of governance operated in Nigeria, votes at the election and elections are won by political parties and not their candidates or the candidates sponsored at the election by the political parties.
The court further made a declaration, that “votes won or scored by a political party at an election is retained by the political party irrespective of the death or exit of the candidate it sponsored for the election, from the political party.
“A declaration that votes won at the election cannot be transferred or utilized for the benefit of the 2nd Defendant (APC).
“A declaration that candidate of a political party that won the majority votes at an election is not entitled to retain or continue to lay claims to the votes won by the political party after moving to another political party, rather, the candidate is bound to inherit, utilize or appropriate the votes won by the new political party he has adopted”.
The court held that the APC, “having scored only 81,703 votes at the said governorship election as against the majority lawful votes of 393, 343 votes scored by the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff, is bound to retain its votes throughout the duration of or tenure of office for which the election was held and the 2nd Defendant cannot appropriate the votes of the Plaintiff directly or indirectly”.
Aside from directing the PDP to submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the name of its candidates to replace the 3rd and 4th Defendants, the court, issued an order of perpetual injunction, restraining Governor Umahi and his deputy from putting themselves out or parading themselves as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Ebonyi State.
It equally issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining APC from parading itself as the political party whose members occupy the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Ebonyi state.
In the case of the lawmakers, the court held that section 109(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution was purposely couched to ensure that defectors were not allowed to retain their seat in the House unless such defectors were able to justify their action.
The court held that the case PDP brought against them succeeded.
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.
Court gives INEC options
The court also made an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to accept from the PDP, a list of its candidates to replace the sacked lawmakers, as well as issue Certificates of Return to them.
Alternatively, it directed INEC to within 90 days, conduct a fresh election in Ebonyi State to fill up the vacant positions.
Some previous court rulings on defections
AGF vs Atiku
The fact that a governor, deputy-governor, president or vice-president can only be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and nothing more, was firmly settled by the Supreme Court in the celebrated case of Attorney-General of the Federation v Atiku Abubakar (2007) the then Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar had a running battle with the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a bid to fulfil his ambition of contesting the office of the President and succeeding his boss, Atiku decamped to then Action Congress, AC, a move which precipitated the then President to convoke an Executive Council Meeting, where the office of Atiku Abubakar as the Vice-President of Nigeria was declared vacant.
‘In his suit challenging his purported removal from office, the Supreme Court held firmly that the Vice-President of Nigeria can only be removed from office under the circumstances provided by Sections 143-144 of the 1999 Constitution.
In summing up the position of the Court, Walter Onnoghen JSC, retd, in his concurring judgment held inter alia: “There is nowhere in the 1999 Constitution that it is stated that the President or Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be removed or is removable from that office if he defects from the political party on which platform he was elected to that office and joins another political party.
Defection on basis of division in party
The Supreme Court in the case of Ifedayo vs LP, however, declared that an elective seat may be declared vacant when the holder of such office defects to another party when there is no division in the party through which he or she won the office.
Following this precedent, the Supreme Court in 2015, ordered a member of the House of Representatives representing Akure South/North Federal Constituency of Ondo State, Ifedayo Abegunde, to vacate his seat for defecting from the Labour Party, LP, which sponsored him for the election in 2011, to the now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
In a unanimous verdict by a seven-man panel, led by then Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, the apex court held that Abegunde’s defection could not be justified, since his excuse of purported division in the LP was not in existence in the “national structure” of the party.
Justice Musa Muhammad, who read the lead judgment, held that only a “division” that makes it “impossible or impracticable” for the party to function, by virtue of the provision in Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution, justifies a person’s defection to another party.
I’m still Governor of Ebonyi State —Umahi
But reacting to the court judgement, Governor David Umahi said 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.
He said: “I am still the governor of Ebonyi State and there is no tension at all. In the first place, there is no constitutional provision for any hatchet man to remove a governor.
“There are three ways a governor can vacate his office: It’s either by death, resignation or impeachment. There is no other constitutional provision that empowers a hatchet man to turn the constitution upside down.
“I have listened to the judgement of Inyang Ekwo and it’s very obvious that he was on a mission. He was making all effort to upturn the rulings of the Appeal and Supreme Courts, on issues like this.
“We have heard the rumours before now that he was determined to give judgement against all known laws and the constitution, first to embarrass the APC, and to equally embarrass the Federal Government.
“For me, I do not feel worried but I feel so bad for the judiciary in Nigeria. The executives may have problems; the legislature may have problems, but the moment justice could be purchased, then we are in trouble in Nigeria.
“It’s obvious that the ruling this afternoon (yesterday) is clear evidence that this country is in trouble. And let me tell you, this same judge has over ten cases against Ebonyi State government with him, and you can imagine what he is going to rule.
“We have petitioned the NJC over him and we will follow it up to the end to ensure that this man (Ekwo) is brought to justice. I want you to disregard the judgement because it’s null and void.”
He called on his supporters not to be disturbed about the ruling as he was still in control of the situation.
“My supporters should laugh over it,’’ he said.
Ebonyi APC rejects judgement
Similarly, the Ebonyi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC yesterday rejected the judgement.
Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, in a reaction, said the presiding judge erred in his judgement, which he described as an abuse of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
He stated that there was already a subsisting judgement of a High Court in Abakaliki, and also in Zamfara State, which ruled that a serving governor or his deputy could not be sacked from office on account of their defection to another party.
He accused Justice Ekwo of acting the script of political detractors, orchestrated to embarrass the governor and his deputy in order to achieve cheap political points.
He called on APC members and the supporters of the governor to remain calm and law-abiding, adding that the judgement would surely be appealed.
“The judgement was clearly biased and it’s unacceptable. Already, there is a judgement from a High Court in Abakaliki and also in Zamfara State which said that a governor and his deputy cannot be removed from office on account of their defection to another party.
“However, there is no need to panic as the judgement will surely be appealed. All members of the APC and supporters of the governor are advised to remain calm and law-abiding,” he said.
Greatest legal pronouncements of Nigeria’s political history — PDP chieftain
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP in Ebonyi State, Chief Abia Onyike, has described the ruling as “the greatest legal pronouncement in Nigeria’s political history.”
He said: “The ruling of the Federal High Court is one of the greatest legal pronouncements in Nigeria’s political history. It will expose Governor Umahi as a political upstart and lawless character, whose days in office are numbered.
“Whether he appeals or not, this ruling has reduced him to size. Why did he decamp when there was no leadership crisis in PDP?’’
PDP nominates Igariwey, Udogwu as governor, deputy governor
Reacting to the development yesterday, Peoples’s Democratic Party, PDP, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize Iduma Igariwey and Fred Udogwu as governor and deputy governor of the state respectively.
Addressing a world press conference at the party’s secretariat, PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, said the nomination of Igariwey and Udogwu followed “the sack from office of Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, and his deputy, Chief Kelechi Igwe, by a Federal High Court for defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.”
Ayu noted that “in the same ruling, the court, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, also sacked the 17 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, who also defected with the governor and his deputy into the APC.”
While commending the judiciary, Ayu said the ruling would bring order in the political space and “check the issue of political rascality and stolen mandates. The judiciary is, indeed, the backbone of this democracy.”
He added: “We also want to single out Justice Inyang Ekwo for special recognition, particularly for being courageous and forthright in going for the substance of the law rather than the technicalities. And in line with the court order, PDP is immediately submitting to INEC the names of our candidates for governor and deputy governor of Ebonyi State respectively.
“We are also calling on INEC to immediately issue the Certificates of Return to the PDP nominees as a replacement for Messrs Umahi and Igwe, pursuant to the Order of the Honourable Court.
“Furthermore, we call on the Chief Judge of Ebonyi State to immediately swear them in as soon as INEC issues the requisite Certificates of Return.
“Lastly, we call on INEC to immediately withdraw the Certificates of Return from the 17 lawmakers and commence the process of conducting bye-elections to replace them,’’
Ayu said though Umahi might decide to head to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to upturn the ruling, the PDP won’t concern itself with whether there would be an appeal or not.
According to him, the party’s business is to obey the directive of Justice Ekwo.
Source: Vanguard
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