Embattled governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, and his deputy, Dr. Eric Igwe, have approached the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement that sacked them from their respective offices over defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
This came as the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday lashed out at the governor over his outburst against the judge that gave the judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo, describing it as “executive rascality.
It would be recalled that Umahi had, in the aftermath of the judgement on Tuesday, accused the judge of doing a “hatchet job” in his ruling.
This is even as Ebonyi State government, yesterday, described the verdict against the governor and his deputy as an attempt to heat up the polity in the state.
Governor Umahi and his deputy, through their team of lawyers, led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chukwuma Ume, in their eight grounds of appeal, maintained that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, erred in law in his judgement and caused a grave miscarriage of justice against them.
They argued that the trial court, in ordering them to vacate their offices, based on the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/920/2021, attempted to overrule a subsisting decision of the Supreme Court in AG Federation v. Atiku Abubakar & 3 ORS (2007) LCN/3799 (SC).