JUST IN: Appeal court reverses order sacking gov. Umahi and his deputy

Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi and his deputy, Eric Kelechi Igwe may now conclude their tenure in office as an appeal court has reversed an order sacking them.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja aligned with an earlier decision on the same issue given by the court’s Enugu division.

The March 8 judgment by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court has been reversed by the The Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The Federal High Court had ordered the sacking of Ebonyi Governor, David Umahi and his deputy for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reversing the order, 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.