A National chairmanship aspirant of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, has predicted that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s case against Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State will collapse at the Appeal Court.
He stated this while encouraging Umahi and supporters of the party to remain strong and not to lose sleep over Tuesday’s Federal High Court judgment, which removed Governor Umahi and his deputy from office.
In a statement he signed on Wednesday in Abuja, the former Nasarawa State Governor said from his knowledge of the nation’s political history and several court rulings on the same matter, the PDP lawsuit seeking to sack Umahi and his deputy from office will amount to nothing.
The Justice Inyang Ekwo-led Abuja Federal High Court did not just order the removal of Umahi and his deputy, but also all the members of the State House of Assembly who defected to the APC together with the governor.
The court also asked the Peoples Democratic Party to nominate replacements for Umahi and his deputy while the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is to conduct a fresh election.
He further described the case as a reckless academic exercise, insisting the Appeal Court would not waste time in upturning the ruling of the lower court.
“The courts, including the Supreme Court, had severally determined the position of the law concerning a governor who decides to exercise his right to freedom of association,” the statement said.
“The PDP suit against Umahi, in the popular view, lacks merit and will ultimately collapse and earn its deserved place as a reckless academic exercise…”
Almakura could not understand why the opposition Party should be aggrieved over Umahi’s decision to join the APC, adding that the PDP had in many occasions benefitted from such defections.
“The PDP lacks any moral ground to contest Umahi’s decision to freely associate for the betterment of his people and Nigeria”, he stated.
Governor Umahi, meanwhile, has approached the appellate court to seek a superior judgment to that of the Federal High Court that sacked him.
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