By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The embattled Governor of Cross River state, Benjamin Ayade, would have to wait until April 6 to know whether he would still remain in office or shown the exit door like legislators in his state and his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dave Umahi, who has since been sacked by the courts.
Prompt News reports that there are indications on Friday that Mr. Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had fixed the judgement on the demand of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Ayade should share Umahi’s fate, for same day, had deferred it to another day, though no explanation was given.
Just like it did in the case of Umahi, which was handled by Taiwo’s brother judge, Inyang Ekwo of the same court, PDP had approached the court, praying that the governor should vacate his seat as governor of the state following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Incidentally, like Inyang, held in the case of Ebonyi, Taiwo, had similarly sacked the members of the Cross River House of Assembly who defected to the APC with Ayade, who won his re-election in 2019 with the PDP after his initial victory four years earlier.
Taiwo, had like his brother judge, held that the mandate the lawmakers took to their present party, belonged to the PDP and they could not have taken it awy to another platform without consulting the people that elected them.
No reason has been given for the shift in date, but information on the cause list before the court, has a new date (6/4/2022) written on it.
Specifically, the PDP, in a matter filed by its lawyer Emmanuel Ukala, is seeking Ayade and his deputy Ivara Esu, vacate their offices because votes in an election belongs to political parties and not the flagbearers.
He sought the following reliefs: “A declaration that in view of the provisions of section 221 of the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the democratic system of governance operated in Nigeria, votes at the election and elections are won by political parties and not their candidate or the candidates sponsored at the election by the political parties.
“INEC should immediately receive from the plaintiff (PDP), the name of its candidates to replace the 3rd and 4th defendants (Ayade and Esu) for the purpose of utilising the lawful votes cast in favour of the plaintiff or in the alternative directing the 1st defendant to hold a gubernatorial election for Cross River State in accordance with Section 177 of the Constitution excluding the 3rd and 4th defendants who are disqualified from participating in the election by virtue of Section 192 (1) (b) of the Constitution) arising from abandonment of the majority lawful votes and the offices occasioned by the action of the 3rd and 4th defendants by reason of their becoming members of the 2nd defendant who did not win majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.”
