Justice Inyang Delivered The Judgement Sacking Gov. Umahi And His Deputy In Error

SYLVANUS OKPE

On the 8th day of March, 2022, The Honorable Justice of the Federal High Court, Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling, ordered the removal of the Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State from office.

The Judgement, however, sound and logically written, with greatest respect to Your Lordship, lacks the requisite legal backing of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
 Firstly, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has provided for the circumstances a Governor and his Deputy can be legally removed from office. From a communal reading of Section 180,188 and 189 of the 1999 Constitution, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State can be removed from office by:
(a) Impeachment by the State House of Assembly on grounds of gross misconduct(b) a resolution passed by two thirds majority of all members of the State Executive Council in which it is declared that the Governor or Deputy Governor is incapable of discharging the functions of his office, which declaration must be verified, after medical examination(c) Resignation(d) Death

The above mentioned reasons are the only grounds in law, upon which a Governor and Deputy Governor can be removed from office, and no other reason whatsoever can warrant the removal of the Governor and Deputy Governor under the Nigerian extant laws. From the foregoing, it is settled in our law, that the defection of the Governor and Deputy Governor of a state, cannot be a ground for their removal from office.

This case is similar to the case of A.G Federation V Atiku Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (PT. 1041), where the apex court held that, though the defection of the vice president from the political party on which platform he was elected into office of the vice president to another political may be morally reprehensible, the Constitution does not declare such action unlawful, or prescribed a punishment for such act.

Secondly, sanction and punishment for defection prescribed in the 1999 Constitution applies only to the legislative arm of government. See Section 68 and 109 of the 1999 Constitution.

The Constitution has expressly provided for the legislature to be punished where there is a defection. It logically and reasonably follows that the express mention of the legislature in the law leads to the inference that the executive is excluded.

 The Canon of interpretation “expression Unius est exclusio alterius” is applicable here. This Canon of interpretation is based on the point that there is no reason for the legal draftsman to mention only some of the possible items unless the intention is that they are to be the only ones to be dealt with, so that the rest are excluded. See  African Ivory Ins. Co. LTD v Comm. for Ins. (1998)1 NWLR (PT. 532). Therefore, the executives were expressly excluded from the punishment of defection.

Finally, the Certificate of Return, which is the license given to every successful candidate in an election to govern the people voted them in to power, is given to the candidate of the election, and not the political party.
Section 72 of the Electoral Act , 2022 provides “a sealed certificate of return at an election in a prescribed form shall be issued within 14 days to every candidate who has been returned……”The provision did not provide  for the certificate of return to be issued to the political party. The license to govern is only given to the candidate. The attempt by the ruling of respected Justices Inyang Ekwo to give the power to govern to the political party, in this instance, contravenes the provision of the Electoral Act.

This is a democratic coup that must not stand.

Sylvanus Okpe can be reached via sylvaike479@gmail.com