Umahi Sacked As Governor Of Ebonyi State

By Adesina Soyooye

Dave Umahi has been sacked as the Governor of Ebonyi State. Sacked along with him is his Deputy, Dr Kelechi Igwe.

In a ruling set to bring sanity to the polity, an Abuja Federal High Court on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, declared both Umahi and Igwe illegal occupiers of the Government House, Ebonyi State.

They were sacked based on their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under which they were elected into office, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo in his landmark judgment said that the votes cast in the 2019 Governorship election belonged to the PDP, and could not be transferred to the APC. He held that the 393,042 votes Umahi and Igwe got in the March 9,  2019 election belonged to the PDP and could not legally be transferred to the APC. Having defected to the APC, the Judge insisted, both men not only jettisoned  the PDP, but the votes cast for the party.

He further added that going by the outcome of that election, the offices of the Governor and Deputy Governor belong to the PDP, not the APC.

Hon Justice Ekwo:

“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferable from one party to the other.”

The Judge ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately receive from the PDP, the names of its nominees to occupy the position, and asked Umahi and Igwe to immediately stop parading themselves as Governor and Deputy Governor.

Umahi had, inexplicably, defected to the APC, over what many saw as his vaulting ambition to run for the office of the President in 2023.

…More Details later.