A federal high court sitting in Abuja has ordered the removal of David Umahi as governor of the State.
In a judgement delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the court also relieved Eric Kelechi Igwe as the deputy governor of the state for joining his principal to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The judge ruled that the total number of 393, 042 votes governor Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi state, belonged to the PDP and same could not be legally transferred to the APC.
According to the court, having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy, not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.
It held that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state, “belong to the Plaintiff and no other politcal party”.
“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other”.
The court ordered the governor and his deputy to immediately vacate their position while ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to receive the names of their replacement from the PDP or conduct a fresh Guber poll in line with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
It also barred the duo from parading themselves as governor and deputy.
