The embattled governor of Ebonyi state, David Umahi and his Deputy, Dr. Eric Igwe, in a frantic move to stall their removal as governor and deputy governor of the State approached the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to set-aside the judgement that sacked them from their respective offices.
Recall that a Court had sacked the governor and his deputy over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
The duo, through their team of lawyers led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chukwuma Machukwu Ume, in their eight grounds of appeal, maintained that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, erred in law in his judgement and occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against them.
They argued that the trial court, in ordering them to vacate their offices based on the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/920/2021, attempted to overrule a subsisting decision of the Supreme Court in AG Federation v. Atiku Abubakar & 3 ORS (2007) LCN/3799 (SC).
The contended that the apex court had in its decision, held that no constitutional provision prohibited a sitting President or Vice President, and invariably, the Governor or Deputy Governor, from defecting to another political party.
They maintained that the trial high court judge erred, when he held thus; “I have not seen any authority which propounds that where a governor or deputy governor defects his political party on which platform he was elected into office, he cannot be sued by that political party to reclaim its mandate…Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution did not envisage such a situation”.
They argued that the trial court ought to have dismissed the case of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in view of the clear provision of section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“The provisions of Section 308 are specific, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, but subject to subsection (2) of this section, no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against 3rd and 4th Appellants during their mandate in office as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively.
“There is no provision of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that provides for the removal of 3rd and 4th Appellants as sitting Governor and Deputy Governor respectively of Ebonyi State for reason of defection,” they argued.
The Appellants further contended that the lower court miscarried justice against them and erred in law, when it relied on Sections 68 and 109 of the Constitution, as amended, in holding that having defected from the PDP to the APC, they acted in breach of the Constitution, and must therefore, as a consequence, vacate their offices.
They noted that whereas section 68 of the Constitution, stipulated the grounds for a member of the National Assembly to vacate his seat, section 109, listed grounds for vacation of seat by a member of a State House of Assembly.
It is the position of the Appellants that there is no specific mention of Governor and Deputy Governor in the provisions of both sections 68 and 109 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“By relying on sections 68 and 109 of the Constitution the Honourable trial court assumed the role of the legislator and arrogated to itself the powers of amendment of the Constitution”, the Appellants stated, insisting that no constitutional provision mandated a Governor or Deputy Governor to vacate office after defecting from one political party to another.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the appeal.
