The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has filed an appeal challenging the judgement of the Federal High Court, which ordered him and his deputy, Eric Igwe to vacate their executive offices.
According to a notice appeal filed in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/920/2021 on Wednesday and obtained by Channels Television, Umahi, and his deputy stated that the Federal High Court erred in his ruling and they, therefore, disagreed with the entire judgment which ordered their sack for defecting to the All Progressive Congress (APC) from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
They listed eight grounds of appeal against the lower court’s judgment.
In the appeal document, Umahi and his deputy argued that the trial court was virtually setting aside the Supreme Court’s decision in the case involving the Attorney General of the Federation and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to the effect that there are no constitutional provisions prohibiting president or vice and invariably the governor and or deputy governor from defecting to another political party.
They averred that the trial court erred in law when it relied on sections 68 and 109 of the constitution in holding that, having defected from the PDP to the APC, he offended the provisions of the constitution and must vacate his office.
They further submitted that there is no provision in the constitution that states that a governor or deputy governor will vacate his office if he defects from his political party to another political party.
They, therefore, asked the appellate court to set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court.
