Following the court judgment that sacked Ebonyi State governor David Umahi, his deputy and some lawmakers over their defection to the ruling All Progressive Congress, Umahi has said he is not worried by the court decision.
Recall that a Federal High Court in Abuja two weeks ago sacked Umahi, the Deputy Governor, Kelechi Igwe, along with 16 lawmakers in the state over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The judge, Inyang Ekwo, ruled that by defecting from the party on which they were sponsored and elected, they had resigned or deemed to have resigned from office.
Last Monday, the court struck out the governor’s motion seeking a stay of execution of the judgment.
Reacting to the court’s judgment, Umahi said “Do I look worried? Am I still not David? You see, God has plans for everything. Nobody sacked my administration,” he insisted.
The governor, while referencing a case in Bayelsa State where a governor-elect was sacked by the Supreme Court, argued that the votes cast in an election belong to the candidates, not the political party.
“And even a day to his swearing-in, the Supreme Court ruled disqualifying the candidate of APC that won the election because of his deputy. And so if votes belonged to the party, it would have been that the Supreme Court in their wisdom would have just asked for the man that won the election, for the party to bring a substitute to do that,” he said.
The Supreme Court, in February 2020, sacked David Lyon of the APC as governor-elect of Bayelsa State, barely 24 hours to his inauguration, on the grounds that his deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, presented false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“In the first place, there is no constitutional provision that says that a governor can be sued. So, I’m not sueable, you know. But a court judgment is a court judgment.
“And the Constitution says that once you’re elected, you enjoy immunity, and the Supreme Court says votes cast in an election belong to the candidate. And that’s why you have qualifications of a candidate and not qualifications of a political party,” Umahi added.
