Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State, Ogbuatu Simba, tells EDWARD NNACHI that the sacking of the State Governor, Dave Umahi, by an Abuja High Court will not stand
How would you describe the sacking of David Umahi and Kelechi Igwe as governor and deputy governor respectively by an Abuja High Court?
First of all, the sacking of David Umahi and his deputy by an Abuja Federal High Court is an abuse of court process. Such vagrant judgement cannot stand and will never see the light of the day. We, members of the APC family; both at the state and the national levels have rejected the judgement. The court of the same jurisdiction cannot preside on the same subject matter as earlier done by another court.
Why did your party insist that the judgement was biased and that the judge erred in his ruling?
It was biased because the judge was misled by the lawyers of the Peoples Democratic Party. As long as an Abakaliki High Court has earlier passed a judgement on that subject matter, it is unprofessional and unethical for a court of concurrent jurisdiction to preside on the same subject matter. It remains an abuse of court process.
The court observed that Umahi and his deputy moved to the APC, with the mandate (votes) of the PDP. Don’t you think this is logical enough to merit the governor and his deputy’s sacking?
That is falsehood; go and check the Zamfara governor’s case. He (Umahi) never merited the sacking; the court lacks the locus to sack Umahi and his deputy. There are three ways whereby a governor can vacate his office. It’s either by death, resignation, and impeachment. For instance, Theodore Orji of Abia State defected from the Progressive Peoples Alliance to the PDP and Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom defected from the APC to the PDP, another case study is that of Peter Obi who defected from APGA to the PDP while serving as governor of Anambra state.
These governors defected but were not removed from office. Another case in point is that of Governor Rochas Okorocha who defected from APGA to the APC. In the case of Atiku Abubakar and the Attorney General of the Federation during the reign of President Olusegun Obasanjo when Atiku defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Supreme Court held that Atiku had the right to do so. I want to urge the governor not to be distracted but to remain focused on his developmental agenda for the state.
Did you agree with Umahi when he said he is still the governor and Igwe, still his deputy, despite their sacking by the court?
Governor David Umahi is and remains Ebonyi State governor alongside his deputy. It was a mere distraction; we have got the stay of execution and have appealed the judgement. Let us use this opportunity to say that there was never a time the governor was stopped from entering the Government House. The rumour that he was stopped is the work of mischief makers.Governor Umahi is comfortably sitting as the governor of Ebonyi State.
Umahi, on Tuesday, said he didn’t believe in the Nigerian judiciary anymore, even when some said he had benefitted a lot from the system. Don’t you think he said that in anger?
Whatever happened between Governor Umahi and the judiciary is in the past. The governor I know is someone that believe in the integrity of the judiciary and that the court is the last hope of a common man.
Your party, the APC said the target of the PDP in the state was merely to distract Umahi and nothing more. Why did you say so?
It is a mere distraction because they know that going for such judgement that cannot stand is just a mere distraction as it is an abuse of court process.
What is the general feeling in the camp of the APC, in the state, over the court ruling?
Ebonyi people at home and in Diaspora, from the 13 local government areas are solidly with Governor Umahi.The people are solidly with him. So, ignore those good-for-nothing Abuja politicians.
Do you think Umahi is regretting leaving the PDP?
Governor Umahi can never regret leaving the PDP, rather the PDP is the one regretting that Umahi left them, Umahi was the live wire of the PDP in Ebonyi State. The continuous wailing and evil gimmicks of the PDP against Umahi and the APC in the state are confirmation of the fact that the PDP has lost grip of the state by virtue of Umahi leaving the party. Remember that all of these watery challenges are coming ever since the governor left the party. Have you asked why all these attacks are coming now after the governor left the PDP?
There are insinuations that Umahi left the PDP, even when there was no crisis in the party.
Ignore the few desperate politician of the PDP, they are displaying frustration. Nobody is with them, and these few individuals cannot hold rallies in their polling units. These men rode to powers through the governor and are startled on how to go about it come 2023. They are losers; they can never take over Ebonyi State because Ebonyi people rejected them long ago because they are selfish and self-centered.
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