Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has apologized to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over a Statement credited to him for allegely maligning the integrity of Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja
In the same vein, Umahi disclosed that the 16 Lawmakers of the State House of Assembly whose seats were declared vacant by Federal High Court Abuja, had equally appealed the judgement.
Umahi tendered the apology on Wednesday while addressing a Cross section of the people that thronged the Abakaliki Township Stadium on a solidarity visit to him.
“We have engaged 8 SANs to proceed to Abuja, we have engaged 10 SANs to proceed to Enugu ,we have filed stay of execution”
‘Let me assure the NBA Chairman that he is a perfect gentleman and that we will never insult the Judiciary, that we have Confidence in the Judiciary, I know that there will do the right thing”
“Let me use the opportunity to tell Nigerians that we never castigated the Judge, today we have appealed the judgement of Abuja, we did not say we will disobey”
He said that he remained the Governor of Ebonyi State duly discharging his duties effectively.
“This is not about the Governor of Ebonyi State, remenber when the Endsars protest was at its peak, that was the time I chosed to Cross over to APC so that we can align with our brothers of different parts of the country,”
“I am not against the Judiciary at all, the same thing goes to the House of Assembly,
“The Supreme Court had said that for any defection in the State House of Assembly, the presiding Officer either the Speaker or Senate President declared the Seat vacant.
The Governor appealed to the citizens not to be angry about anything stating that “It was for his promotion”
On the perceived Division in APC, Umahi debunked such insinuations stating “there is no Division in the Party, the Chairman went for Medical Leave, we were there when he asked the Niger State Governor to act for him”
He urged the people of the State not to entertain any fear and go about their businesses peacefully.
“I don’t want you to go against the
Law, what people thought was for evil
has promoted your Governor to the
next level’
Speaking against the backdrop of the sacking of 16 Lawmakers of the State House of Assembly that defected from the PDP to the APC, Umahi said the the Lawmakers have appealed the ruling.
It would be recalled that the judgement delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that both Umahi and his deputy, not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.
The Court 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”.
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The court therefore ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions.
It ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately receive from the PDP, names of persons to replace Umahi and his Deputy, or in the alternative, conduct fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi state in line with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
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Senate rejects Buhari’s request to amend Section 84 (12) in Electoral Act
The Senate has thrown out the request of President Muhammadu Buhari for amendment of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act which prevents appointive political office holders from contesting for election from party primary level without resigning.
The request was rejected after the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC Kebbi North) made the lead debate for the second reading of the bill on Wednesday.
The Senators kicked against it and voted no when put to voice votes by the Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
President Buhari last week wrote the Senate seeking an amendment of section 84 (2) subsection 12 in the 2021 Electoral Act.
Specifically, President Buhari asked the National Assembly to amend section 84 (2) Subsection 12 which states that no political appointee shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of any candidate for an election.
In the letter, he said the amendment is necessary as the clause constitutes a fundamental defect and leads to the disenfranchisement of political officeholders.
In his view, the section disenfranchises serving political office holders from voting or being voted for at conventions or congresses of any political party, for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election in cases where it holds earlier than 30 days to the national election.
President Buhari stressed that the provision introduced qualification and disqualification criteria that ultra vires the Constitution by way of importing blanket restrictions to serving political officeholders.
The Federal High Court in Abuja in a ruling on Monday, March 7 stopped President Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, from tampering with the newly signed amended Electoral Act 2022.
Ruling on an ex-parte application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Justice Inyang Ekwo agreed with the counsel to the party, James Onoja, that the Electoral Act has become a valid law and cannot be tampered with without following due process of law.
