The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu State has overturned the ruling of an Ebonyi State High Court which ordered the sack from office of David Umahi and Kelehi Igwe as Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State respectively.
The appellate court on Friday in a unanimous judgement read by Justice Alfa Belgore, dismissed the suit bought before it for being inconsistent with the Constitution and extant laws of the country.
TrackNews reports the suit was instituted by Senator Sonni Ogbuoji and his running mate, Justin Ogbodo Mbam who sought a court order for Umahi and Igwe to be sacked from office following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in November 2020.
Ogbuoji and Mbam were the APC candidate and running mate respectively for the 2019 governorship election in the state.
They wanted the court to sack the Governor and his Deputy by declaring their seats vacant and order their own installation but the Ebonyi State High Court ruled otherwise.
A cost of N500,000 was also awarded by the court against the plaintiffs in its ruling on February 28, 2022.
Not satisfied with the ruling, the plaintiffs appealed the decision.
But in a 37-minute judgement on Friday, the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court’s position on the matter and struck out the case.
