From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
The Appeal Court sitting in Enugu on Friday affirmed the judgement of Ebonyi State High Court, Abakaliki, which retained Chief David Umahi and Dr Kelechi Igwe as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Ebonyi State despite their defection from the People’s Democratic party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Umahi and his Deputy had on November 2020 defected from the PDP, a platform on which they were elected, to the APC, citing injustice by the PDP against the South East zone.
The suit which was filed by the APC governorship candidate in the 2019 general elections, Senator Suny Ogbuoji and his running mate, Mr Mbam Ogodo, had through originating summons asked the Court to determine whether the defendant, Governor Umahi, and his deputy, have not lost their offices or deemed to have lost their offices, on account of defection to the APC from the PDP.
The plaintiffs asked the court to order INEC to swear them in as Governor and Deputy Governor, having come second in the 2019 general election.
But Justice Henry Njoku of the Ebonyi State High Court, in his ruling, dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and awarded N500, 000.
The plaintiffs, Mr Suny Ogbuoji and his running mate, Mbam Ogodo, were dissatisfied with the judgement, and had on 7 March 2022, filed an appeal at Enugu judicial division of the Appeal Court.
Delivering judgement on Friday, a three-man panel in their unanimous judgement, affirmed the ruling of the Abakaliki High Court that Governor Umahi and his deputy did not offend any provision of the constitution or the Electoral Act in defecting to the APC from the PDP. The judgement was read by Justice J O K Oyowole.
According to the Justices, there is no consequence under the law against the defection of a holder of the office of the President, Vice President, Governor or Deputy Governor, to another political party from the party that sponsored the election that brought him or her to office. The Justices further held that the defection of a political office holder might appear immoral, but it was not the duty of the court to embark on investigation or probe into the provisions of the laws, warning that judicial activism must not be turned into judicial rascality.
The court dismissed the appeal and awarded N200, 000 against the appellants.