Governor Umahi and his deputy have been fired by the court due to their allegiance to the APC.

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Following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, the Federal High Court in Abuja fired Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Dr Eric Kelechi Igwe, on Tuesday.

The court concluded that the complete amount of 393, 042 votes governor Umahi received at the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi state belonged to the PDP and could not be legally transferred to the APC, according to a judgement given by Justice Inyang Ekwo.

According to the court, when Umahi and his deputy switched to the APC, they not only abandoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.

According to the court, the governorship and deputy governorship in Ebonyi state “belong to the Plaintiff and no other political party” based on the results of the governorship election.

“There is no provision in the Constitution that allows a ballot to be transferred from one political party to another.”

The court ruled that the PDP is obligated to keep the votes and mandate given to it by Ebonyi voters since governor Umahi and his deputy were unable to lawfully transfer them to the APC.

As a result, the court ordered both Umahi and Igwe to resign their positions immediately.

 

It directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately collect names of candidates to replace Umahi and his deputy from the PDP, or, failing that, to hold a fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi state in accordance with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The court also barred both Umahi and Igwe from acting as governor or deputy governor of Ebonyi state in the future.

The ruling came after the PDP filed a lawsuit in court.