Politics
By Anthony Isibor.
THE recent sack of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his deputy, Eric Igwe, by the Federal High Court Abuja, presided by over Justice Inyang Ekwo, has been trailed by mixed reactions among Nigerian politicians and some legal experts.
Gov. Umahi was sacked along 16 other lawmakers in the state House of Assembly, who also defected from the PDP to the APC. The judge had in his judgment stated expressly that the votes cast in an election “belong to the party and not to the candidate, who wins the election”.
It is gathered that Gov. Umahi has appealed the judgment of the Abuja Court, while another court in Ebonyi has ordered that Umahi and his deputy should remain in office pending the outcome of the appeal. Despite this development, some Nigerians have commended the judgment, while others see it as a miscarriage of justice and an illegality that must not be encouraged.
However, the controversy surrounding the court judgment may not be unconnected with the fears being expressed over previous judgments in similar cases in the past where verdicts of the other courts on the defection of some other governors who also decamped from their parties last year differed from the pronouncement of the Abuja Court.
It will be recalled that the Gusau Division of the Federal High Court had in June 2021, ruled in favour of Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, who had defected from the PDP to the APC.
The judge had ruled that the request by the plaintiffs to remove the governor on the grounds of defecting from the PDP to the APC could not be granted, as only an election petitions tribunal or the state House of Assembly had the power to remove a governor from office.
The judge, however, fixed judgment on the case on April 7, 2022.
The Abuja High Court Judge also sacked 37 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly who defected to the ruling APC.
Speaking immediately after the judgment, Governor Umahi rejected the ruling, describing the judge “as a hatchet man on a mission” and that the judge had no powers to sack him as a democratically elected governor of a state.
Reacting to the statement by Governor Umahi, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA through its president, Olumide Akpata, consequently condemned Umahi’s outburst and demanded an apology and a retraction of the “offensive” comments from him.
But Mike Ozekhome, SAN, who reacted to judgment, faulted the verdict of the Abuja Court, saying: “Neither a governor nor deputy governor can be removed from office by a court of law for defecting from his political party to another.”
He noted that the judgment, shredded of all legal and factual details, cannot stand the acid test of constitutionalism, nor pass the furnace of appellate courts scrutiny because the tenure of office of a governor and his deputy are constitutional matters.
According to him, votes cast in an election belong to a live candidate, and not the political party, which merely serves as a vehicle that enthrones candidates.
In the same vein, Jubrin Okutepa, SAN, said: “There is no power and jurisdiction in the Federal High Court to determine and declare that by constitutional misconduct of defecting to another political party other than the party upon which the governor and the deputy governor were elected, their seats had become vacant and to order the conduct of election to their offices.
“Jurisdiction to make post-election declarations and orders as made by the Federal High Court is not in our constitution.”
“But let us wait and see what the other higher courts in the land will say, but until then it does not lie in the mouth of the governor or his deputy to say they will not obey the orders.
“Their remedies are not in acting contemptuously, but in ventilating their dissatisfactions by due process,” he said.
Also, another senior advocate, Kunle Adegoke, who spoke as a guest on the Channels Television’s programme, insisted that the Federal High Court’s interpretations were against subsisting pronouncements of the Supreme Court.
Adding his voice, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, spoke in support of Justice Inyang Ekwo. According to him, the winner of an election is only does so for the party. He noted that “Based on the Supreme Court decision in Amaechi vs Celestine Omehia, and PDP, the candidate, who wins political office holds the office in trust for the party.
“The party is the only legally permissible entity under the Constitution and the Electoral Act, who canvasses for votes.
“As a result, the political office to which a candidate runs, say for president or senate etc, is to the benefit of the party exclusively.
“Adding his voice to the debate, Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, said: “The reality on ground is that the court that gave this judgment is a court of first instance.
“There is as such a window of opportunity for an aggrieved party to appeal against the judgment. Having regards to the all important nature of the matter, it is certain that there will be an appeal.
“My own attitude is that the Court of Appeal should be allowed to decide the matter in the way and manner considered proper by that appellate court.
“Almost invariably, whoever loses on appeal will eventually take the matter to the apex court of the land for final determination. Until then, whatever anyone says would be of no moment in practical terms.
“In sum, I encourage that the matter be allowed to be effectively settled in the judicial forum as instituted in the Constitution of the country,” he added.
But while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, date?, another senior advocate, Paul Obole, said the issues were not as clear cut as the critics of the Abuja Court’s judgment suggested.
He explained that in many cases, you will find for, while in others, you probably could find a similar number against.
For instance, the Supreme Court, which previously ruled that the ballots belonged to the candidate, indicated in 2016 in the case filed by James Faleke, concerning the 2015 Kogi State governorship election that they belonged to the political party.
Meanwhile, Gov Umahi has, however, apologized to the NBA and filed an appeal against the judgment even though the PDP had presented Iduma Igariwey and Fred Udogwu as replacements. He insists that he remains the governor, and would not obey the court’s verdict having obtained judgments of other courts validating his defection.
He also urged the National Assembly to take advantage of the ongoing constitution amendment process to clearly spell out the implication of defection by the president and the vice-president as well as by governors and their deputies.
“Once it is clear in the constitution, it makes the tasks easier for judicial interpretation,” he said.
In two notices of appeal filed by the lawyer, Chukwuma Machukwu Umeh, SAN, on behalf of Umahi, Igwe and others, he is praying the Court of Appeal to set aside Justice Ekwo’s judgment.
In the notice of appeal, 11 grounds of appeal were raised, while five grounds were raised in the notice of appeal filed for the 16 lawmakers.
According to the appeal, “The Hon trial court was virtually setting aside the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s decision in AG Federation v. Atiku Abubakar & 3 ORS (2007) LCN/3799(SC) 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.”
“There is no specific mention of governor and deputy governor in the provisions of sections 68 and 109 respectively of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)
“There is no provision in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states that governor or deputy governor will vacate his office if he defects from his political party to another political party.
The appellants added that the trial court erred in law and overruled the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria when it held that the ownership of votes cast during the governorship election of 2019 belongs to the first respondent (the PDP) and not the appellants.
“The trial court relied on Amaechi v. INEC and Faleke v. INEC when same are no longer the law on the ownership of votes cast in an election,” the appeal said.
– March. 14, 2022 @ 18:22 GMT |
Tags: Gov. Bello Matawalle Governor Dave Umahi INEC Justice Inyang Ekwo
