The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said it was yet to receive the certified true copy of the Federal High Court judgement that sacked Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and the Deputy Governor, Kelechi Igwe.
Festus Okoye, the INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Mr Okoye said the commission would meet to make a decision when it received the certified true copy of the court Judgement.
“The Commission has not been served with a copy of the said judgement.
“The Commission will meet and take a decision when it is served with a Certified True Copy of the judgement,” Mr Okoye said.
A Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Tuesday, ordered Governor Umahi to vacate office after his defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Ekwo, in the judgment, also ordered Mr Igwe to stop parading himself as the deputy governor of the state.
Justice Ekwo declared that having defected from the PDP, under which platform they came into power, the duo were deemed to have resigned from the office and, hence, no longer entitled to be called governor and deputy governor.
The judge said it was constitutionally wrong for a candidate elected into an office on a platform of a political party to defect to another political party while still in office.
He said the votes gotten by Messrs Umahi and Igwe on March 9, 2019, were PDP votes and not for the APC.
Fifteen Ebonyi State lawmakers, who defected from the PDP to the APC were also affected by the judgement.
The PDP, in reaction to the court judgement, said it submitted to INEC the names of Iduma Igariwey, a serving member of the House of Representatives, as a nominee to replace Mr Umahi, and Fred Udogwu to replace Mr Igwe, the sacked deputy governor.
The PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, at a press conference in Abuja, said the decision was made after due consultation with party chieftains at the national and the Ebonyi State chapter, in compliance with Tuesday’s judgment.
Meanwhile, Mr Umahi said he remains the governor of the state and will not vacate office for anyone.
(NAN)
