The Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday said it was yet to be served the Certified True Copy of the Federal High Court judgment that sacked Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Chief Kelechi Igwe.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, said this on Tuesday.
Okoye, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said that the commission would meet and take a decision when it receives the CTC of the judgment.
He said: “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.”
A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, on Tuesday ordered Umahi to vacate office after his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
Justice Ekwo, in the judgment, also ordered Dr. Kelechi Eric Igwe, to stop parading himself as the Deputy Governor of the state.
Justice Ekwo declared that having defected from the PDP, on 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 the platform of a political party to defect to another political party while in office.
He said the votes gotten by Umahi and Igwe on March 9, 2019 were PDP votes and not for the APC.
NAN reports that in reaction to the court judgement, the PDP said it had submitted to INEC the names of Iduma Igariwey, a serving member of the House of Representatives, as nominee to replace the Umahi, and Fred Udogwu as Deputy Governor to replace Igwe.
The PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, at a press conference in Abuja, said that the decision was made after due consultation with party stakeholders at the national and Ebonyi State chapter levels in compliance to the Tuesday’s judgment of the Federal High Court.
Meanwhile, Umahi, in his reaction, said that he remains the governor of the state and will not vacate office for anyone.