A group, the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in the Diaspora (AESID), has described the judgment that sacked David Umahi and Kelechi Igwe as Ebonyi Governor and Deputy Governor as a welcome development.
It said the judgment was a huge credit to the judiciary as the last hope of the common man and the fact that Nigeria’s democracy could actually be made better.
In a statement by its President, Paschal Oluchukwu, AESID said: “Even though Justice Ekwo’s Federal High Court is not the final arbiter in the matter as it is just a court of first instance, his tenacious courage and boldness to make that declaratory verdict on Umahi and his decamped allies stands him out as a man of common character who panders only to facts and not emotional sentiments or intimidations.”
AESID faulted Umahi for his comments after the judgment.
“We are thoroughly bashed about the furious reaction of the ousted Governor and his boasts during a press conference that he is still in charge and nobody can remove him as governor. Is Umahi now above the law?
“Is he still subject to the constitution of our land or he has grown far above it?
“How can an elected official make the kinds of derogatory remarks we watched Umahi make against the Nigerian judiciary, particularly Justice Ekwo before national television?”
The judge, last Tuesday, sacked the governor and his deputy for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Ekwo also ordered 16 lawmakers in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, who defected from the PDP to the APC, to vacate their seats.
He held that their votes could not be transferred from one party to another.
Faulting the judgment, Umahi accused the judge of being a “hatchet man” and claimed the judgment was “purchased”.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had slammed the governor for his outburst and demanded an apology from him.
NBA President Olumide Akpata later said Umahi had apologised.
