Due to various court proceedings, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) claims it is impossible to make a judgement on David Umahi’s removal as Ebonyi State Governor.
Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, said in a statement on Thursday that the electoral body had received about nine court orders on the matter, with another one being served just as delibrations were about to begin during its management meeting on Thursday.
INEC has opted to halt talks on the problem and submit the case back to its Legal Services and Clearance Committee for action, according to Okoye, citing the numerous court proceedings on the subject.
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In addition to the Ebonyi case, he bemoaned the fact that INEC has been named in other legal proceedings in the previous three months.
“The commission was informed by its Litigation and Prosecution Department, which included an update on litigations, revealing that the commission has been joined in 71 new cases around the nation in the previous three months.”
“The majority of these cases, like the one on Ebonyi State, involve either intra-party disputes or litigants seeking different reliefs from the courts that imply consequential rulings that are enforceable on the commission,” Okoye said.
In the case of Ebonyi State, Okoye stated that INEC plans to meet next week to discuss the issue, following which its position will be made public.
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“It concerns court matters involving the defection of the Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, as well as 16 members of the State House of Assembly, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he stated (APC).
“On this topic, the commission has received nine distinct Orders and Motions from several Courts.”
“Just as the commission was set to begin deliberating on them, further court procedures in the issue were served today.”
Anaedoonline.ng reports that on March 8, an Abuja federal high court presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo fired Ebonyi governor David Umahi and his deputy, Eric Igwe, for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) (APC).
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The judge in his ruling held that the votes from the 2019 polls were for the PDP and could not be transferred to the All Progressives Congress (APC) upon the defection by Umahi and his deputy.
The Judge also sacked all state House of Assembly members who defected with them.
The Governor and his Deputy later obtained a stay of execution for the sack order.
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