A Federal High Court in Abakaliki, on Friday disqualified Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, from vying for the Ebonyi South senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
The judge gave the order while ruling on an application filed by the governor, challenging the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to omit his name from the list of candidates cleared to contest for senate on APC’s platform after his younger had relinquished his ticket to him.
Delivering judgment, Justice Fatun Riman held that Ms. Ann Agom-Eze, who finished second in the primary which produced Umahi’s younger brother, Austin Umahi, was the winner of the APC senatorial primary election for the zone.
Agom-Eze had applied to be joined as a party in the suit following the governor’s application.
The court therefore declared Agom-Eze as the legitimate APC candidate for Ebonyi South senatorial district ahead of next year’s general elections.
The Judge further held that the governor, who had contested for the presidential ticket of the APC but later withdrew for Tinubu, could not have also vied for senate in the same year even after his brother surrendered his ticket to him.
The action, according to the court, is in flagrant violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, which is punishable by an imprisonment term of two years.
Justice Riman, who cited Section 115 of the Electoral Act, held that the provision prohibits a person from running in two primary elections in the same year.
The court also barred the governor’s younger brother, from taking part in the election after officially voluntarily relinquishing the ticket which he had won.
