The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reversed the March 8 judgment by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja sacking Ebonyi Governor, David Umahi and his deputy for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A three-member panel of the appellate court held in a judgment on Friday that the nation’s Constitution did not provide any punishment for a Governor or Deputy Governor who defected from the party on which platform he/she got to office.
In the lead judgment, Justice Haruna Tsanami, the appellate court held that the only option opened to a political party, aggrieved by the defection of a Governor or Deputy Governor, is to explore the impeachment option provided in the Constitution.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja aligned with an earlier decision on the same issue given by the court’s Enugu division.
