Umahi sack: INEC set to take decision amid Courts’ counter motions

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it will make its position known by next week on the matter of defection of the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The Electoral umpire explained that it has received about nine separate Orders and Motions from various Courts on the issue and just as it was about to commence action another was brought in, hence the decision.

In a statement made available to CAPITAL POST on Thursday, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye, said “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met today, Thursday, March 17, 2022, and deliberated on a wide range of issues, including the rising tide of litigations that do not directly involve the Commission, but in which the principal parties joined it.”

According to him, “Commission was briefed by its Litigation and Prosecution Department, including an update on litigations, showing that in the last three months, the Commission has been joined in seventy-one new cases in various Courts across the country. Most of these cases, including the widely discussed one on Ebonyi State, involve either intra-party issues or litigants seeking for various reliefs from the Courts that entail consequential orders that are binding on the Commission.”

“THE CASE OF EBONYI STATE
The Commission today listed this matter for deliberation. It involves Court cases on the defection of the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Commission has been served with nine separate Orders and Motions from various Courts on this matter. Just as the Commission was about to commence deliberation on them, its attention was drawn to additional Court processes served today in respect of the matter.”, Okoye said.

Okoye stated that “Consequently, the Commission decided to defer its deliberation on the Ebonyi cases and stepped down the listed Memorandum to enable its Legal Services and Clearance Committee to study the new processes in the light of the previously served ones and advise the Commission comprehensively. The Commission will meet again next week to deliberate on the matter and thereafter make its decision public”.