Moses Ofodeme
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would not act on previous court ruling sacking Ebonyi State Governor and his deputy over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to All Progressive Congress, APC.
This is as a result of conflicting judgements.
The Commission says it also considers it prudent to stay action on the conflicting judgements and orders being aware of the pendency of Appeals and Motions for Stay of Execution of some of the judgements before various divisions of the Court of Appeal.
Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, said the decision was taken after its meeting on Thursday 24th March 2022, which deliberated on a wide range of issues, including preparations for the Osun State Governorship election and cases on the defection of the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okoye said, “It will be recalled that the Commission met on Thursday 17th March 2022 on the matter, decided to defer its deliberation on the Ebonyi cases and stepped down the listed Memorandum to enable its Legal Services and Clearance Committee to study the new processes served on it in the light of the previously served ones and advise the Commission comprehensively.
“Since then, the Commission has been served yet more Court Processes on the same matter, bringing the total to twelve.
“The Commission deliberated extensively on these cases and decided to further suspend action on the defection of the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Ebonyi State and sixteen members of the State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the light of the conflicting judgements and orders served on it from Courts of coordinate jurisdiction.”