Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Dr. Eric Kelechi Igwe, were sacked by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday for ditching the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favor of the governing All Progressive Congress (APC).
Justice Inyang Ekwo, who delivered the ruling on Tuesday, ordered Umahi and his deputy to quit their positions immediately and asked INEC to replace them with a PDP candidate.
He said that the 393, 042 votes Umahi received in the Ebonyi gubernatorial election on March 9, 2019, belonged to the PDP and could not be transferred to the APC.
Ekwo said that following the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state, “belong to the Plaintiff and no other political party”.
He insisted that there is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other.
While ordering Umahi and Kelechi Igwe to immediately vacate their positions, Justice Ekwo held that the PDP is bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by electorates in Ebonyi state.
The judge ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately receive names of candidates to replace Umahi and his Deputy from the PDP, or, in the alternative, to hold a fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi state in accordance with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The court also barred Umahi and Igwe from claiming to be the governor or deputy governor of Ebonyi state in the future.
