The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced its stand on the court order sacking Dave Umahi as Governor of Ebonyi State over his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in a statement on Thursday, said the commission had received 12 court processes on the defection of Umahi; his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, and 16 members of the state House of Assembly.
INEC, therefore, decided to suspend action on the matter after its meeting on Thursday.
“It will be recalled that the Commission met on Thursday 17 March 2022 on the matter, decided to defer its deliberation on the Ebonyi cases and stepped down the listed Memorandum to enable its Legal Services and Clearance Committee to study the new processes served on it in the light of the previously served ones and advise the Commission comprehensively,” the statement reads.
“Since then, the Commission has been served yet more Court Processes on the same matter, bringing the total to twelve. The Commission deliberated extensively on these cases and decided to further suspend action on the defection of the Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the light of the conflicting judgements and orders served on it from Courts of coordinate jurisdiction.
“The Commission also considers it prudent to stay action on the conflicting judgements and orders being aware of the pendency of Appeals and Motions for Stay of Execution of some of the judgements before various divisions of the Court of Appeal.”
Okay.ng recalls that a Federal High Court in Abuja removed the governor, his deputy and the lawmakers over their defection from PDP to APC. The court also directed INEC to replace the elected officials with new names from the PDP.
Umahi had approached the court to stop his removal but the suit was struck out. The court, however, handed over the case to the Appellate Court.
