Court Dismisses Suit to Sack Umahi, Deputy over Defection

Benjamin Nworie

A High Court sitting in Abakaiki, Ebonyi State capital, yesterday, dismissed the suit seeking to sack Governor David Umahi of the state and his Deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, from offices for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress(APC).

The suit was filed by Senator Sunny Ogbuorji, who ran for the 2019 governorship; his running mate and the APC.

The Plaintiff noted that the governor and the deputy should vacate their seats for the second runner up, having defected from his former party, PDP.

Delivering the two-hour judgement at the Federal High Court 2, Abakaliki, Justice Henry Njoku, dismissed the case as lacking in merit and awarded five hundred thousand naira (N500,000) as cost in favour of the Defendants, Umahi and Deputy.

The plaintiff sought to determine whether Umahi and his deputy, having defected to APC,could still continue to be governor, having regards to the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act as relied upon by the plaintiff and that having come second in the governorship election ought to be sworn in.

The defendant in his argument canvassed that the plaintiff was relying on the pre-election/election qualification issues, arguing that there was no provision in the constitution that provided for defection as one of the grounds for the vacation or removal of a person as governor or as deputy governor.

He further alluded to judicial authorities of Appellant Courts that have settled the matter.

Considering the submissions of both parties, the Trial Judge said having regard to section 188 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the defendant (Umahi) has not offended any provision of the Constitution or the Electoral Act in his defection to APC. The Court further held that having regard to section 308 of the Constitution, it is even wrong to institute criminal or civil proceedings against the office of the Governor. The Court therefore dismissed it in its entirety.

Lead counsel to the defendants, Roy Umahi, stated that, “As far back as 2007, the Supreme Court had ruled that there are no consequences for President and Vice president defecting from one political party to another. That also applies to the Governor and his Deputy. The Summary is that the Governor and Deputy can defect to any political party at any time, even if it’s a day after swearing-in. It attracts no legal consequences”.

But Counsel to the Plaintiff, Ogbonnia Okoro, noted that though he was satisfied with the judgement, he would meet his clients to interface and interpret it to know the next line of action.