The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it
is yet to take a decision on the sacking of David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi,
and Eric Igwe, his deputy.
The commission said this on Thursday in a statement signed
by Festus Okoye, its national commissioner and chairman, information and voter
education committee.
A federal high court sitting in Abuja had ordered the
removal of Umahi, Igwe, and 16 members of the state house of assembly over
their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives
Congress (APC).
Inyang Ekwo, the judge, held that the 393,042 votes polled by Umahi in the March 2019 governorship election belonged to the PDP and cannot be legally transferred to the APC.
The commission, in its statement, said it was briefed by its
litigation and prosecution department that in the last three months, it had
been joined in 71 new cases in various courts across the country.
“Most of these cases, including the widely discussed one on
Ebonyi State, involve either intra-party issues or litigants seeking for
various reliefs from the Courts that entail consequential orders that are
binding on the Commission,” the statement reads.
“The Commission today listed this matter for deliberation.
It involves Court cases on the defection of the Governor and Deputy-Governor of
Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The Commission has
been served with nine separate Orders and Motions from various Courts on this
matter. Just as the Commission was about to commence deliberation on them, its
attention was drawn to additional Court processes served today in respect of
the matter.”
INEC said it has decided to defer its deliberation on the
Ebonyi cases and “stepped down the listed Memorandum to enable its Legal
Services and Clearance Committee to study the new processes in the light of the
previously served ones and advise the Commission comprehensively”.
“The Commission will meet again next week to deliberate on
the matter and thereafter make its decision public,” the statement said.
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