INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Mr Festus Okoye said on Tuesday that the commission was yet to be served the certified true Copy of the Federal High Court Judgement that sacked Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Chief Kelechi Igwe.
Okoye, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Okoye said that the commission would meet and take decision when It received the certified true copy of the court Judgement.
“The Commission has not been served with a copy of the said judgement.
“The Commission will meet and take a decision when it is served with a Certified True Copy of the judgement,” Okoye said.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, ordered Gov. Umahi to vacate office after his defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Ekwo, in the judgment, also ordered Dr Eric Igwe to stop parading himself as the deputy governor of the state.
The Judge declared that having defected from the PDP, under which platform they came into power, the duo were deemed to have resigned from the office and, hence, no longer entitled to be called governor and deputy governor.
He said it was constitutionally wrong for a candidate elected into an office on a platform of a political party to defect to another political while still in office.
Justice Ekwo held that the votes gotten by Umahi and Igwe on March 9, 2019, were PDP votes and not for the APC.
in reaction to the Court judgement, the PDP said it had submitted to INEC the names of Iduma Igariwey, a serving member of the House of Representatives, as nominee to replace Umahi, and Fred Udogwu to replace Igwe.
The PDP National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, at a press conference in Abuja, said that the decision was made after due consultation with party stakeholders at the national and Ebonyi State chapter, in compliance to the Tuesday’s judgment of the Federal High Court.
In his reaction, Umahi said that he remains the governor of the state and will not vacate office for anyone adding he will appeal the judgement.
Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress APC has said that the High Court Judgement sacking Umahi as Chief Executive of Ebonyi State was the height of judicial rascality saying the judgement will not stand.
A statement issued by the Party’s Director of Publicity,Salisu Dambatta said” 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 provisions 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. This is purely a travesty of justice” it said.
Credit: Headline, Additional reports by current matters.