A High court being in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Monday dismissed a match filed by Senator Sunny Ogbu Orji of the APC against Governor David Umahi who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Delivering judgment, Justice Henry Njoku, said the plaintiff came in an originating summons asked the court to hold that the accused, Governor of Ebonyi State, having defected to the APC from the celebration through which he was elected, ought to abandon the office of the Governor upon defection, firmly insisting that the complainant had come second in the 2019 election to be sworn in instead.

Though the complainant did not come through pertinent rules of the Court to institute their coming from summons, the court went on in the interest of substantive justice to hear the matter of the propriety of the defection of Governor Umahi from PDP to APC.

The Plaintiff, Ogbuorji is seeking the removal of Governor David Umahi from office for deserting the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, whose platform he and Deputy, Kelechi Igwe won the 2019 general election.

Sen. Ogbuorji argued that there is no other person in the PDP that came second in the election, that would take over from the Governor, for this reason he (Umahi) had actually abandoned the success won under the PDP

He had actually prompted the court to withdraw Umahi’s triumph and hand it over to him, as he contested for guv under the platform of APC and had come second in the 2019 basic election.

Responding, the counsel to the accused, Roy Nwaze applauded the court for dismissing the fit, including that: “There are matching arrangements associating with the governor and deputy guv. As far back as 2007, where the Supreme Court ruled that there are no effects for a president and vice president defecting from one political celebration to another.

“It follows that when they say it uses to the president and vice president, it also applies to governors and deputy guvs. The summary is that a governor can stop his political party, even if it is a day after his swearing-in, he can go to any political celebration. It draws in no legal repercussions.

In a speedy response, the counsel to Plaintiff, Ogbonnaya Okorie stated, “We approached the court to investigate the arrangements of the law vis-a-vis the defection of the Governor to the APC”.

In a remark, the Commissioner of Information and State Orientation, Mr Uchenna Orji said the dismissal of the fit has actually prevented all distractions against the guv.

“I took place to be in the court when the judgement was delivered and noted all the problems. And the issues have absolutely nothing to do with the defection of the guv to the APC” he said.