The Abakaliki Division of the Ebonyi State High Court, on Monday, dismissed a suit challenging the defection of Governor David Umahi from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

The court ruled that the governor did not flout any provision of the Electoral Act or the constitution to warrant his removal from office.

Umahi had in November 2020 dumped the PDP on which he was elected for two terms, and moved over to the APC.

Owing to the development, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji approached the court by way of originating summons and asked it to hold that the governor, having defected to the APC from the PDP, ought to vacate the office.

Ogbuoji also asked the court to order his swearing in, having come second in the 2019 gubernatorial election.

Recall that Ogbuoji was the APC’s governorship candidate during the 2019 election.

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Umahi, in his defence, argued that the plaintiff was relying on pre-election/election qualification issues, which ought not to be.

He further argued that there was no provision in the constitution for defection as one of the grounds for the vacation or removal of a person as the governor or deputy governor.

The governor cited certain judicial pronouncements on similar matters, especially at appellate courts.

In his judgment, Justice Henry Njoku noted that the plaintiff did not come through relevant rules of the court to institute the originating summons.

In spite of the irregularities, the judge said the court decided to entertain the suit in the interest of justice.

The court held that with regards to Section 188 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the defendant had not offended any provision of the constitution or the Electoral Act in his defection to the APC.

The court further held that Umahi, with regards to Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, was covered by the immunity clause, and as such, it was wrong to institute criminal or civil proceedings against the office of the governor.

The judge, therefore, dismissed in its entirety the suit filed for lack of merit.

He also awarded N500,000 damages against the plaintiff.