Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has told his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, to return the mandate he got on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Wike said this at the inauguration of the Eastern Bypass Road in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Saturday.
Wike slammed Governor Umahi for attacking the judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Justice Inyang Ekwo, instead of seeking appeal to the judgment of the court that sacked him as governor of Ebonyi State.
It would be recalled that Justice Ekwo recently sacked Umahi and the deputy governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Eric Kelechi Igwe, by the Federal High Court, following their defection from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor and his deputy were sacked by Justice Ekwo, who delivered judgment that the 393,042 votes garnered by Umahi in the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi State belonged to the PDP and same could not be legally transferred to the APC by the process of defection.
As there are two sides to a coin, mixed reactions have continued to trail the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court.
While many have hailed the judgment delivered by Justice Ekwo, a cross-section of Nigerians have condemned the sack of Governor Umahi and his deputy.
Speaking on the development, Governor Wike said: “Look at a governor making a reckless statement simply because a judge made a judgment according to his own opinion, which you are entitled to appeal up to Supreme Court.
“You have called somebody a thief in the market and you’re saying I’m sorry, it is late. That your sorry, we the members of the public, we don’t take it. Governor Wike said this was the first in Nigeria’s political history that defection of a governor to another party was being contested in court.”
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He opined that the decision of the PDP to challenge the defection of the governor and others elected on its platform should be seen as a clear example of what is required to strengthen democracy.
Wike added: “If our party has done this earlier when people were leaving in the National Assembly, we won’t have had the problem we are having today.
“That is one of the problems of party leadership. People cannot come out and take the bull by the horns. So, Governor Umahi, be rest assured that PDP will continue this matter down to Supreme Court. We will continue with the matter.”
The governor stated that it was no longer acceptable that one would win an election and defect with the victory to another party for fear of being queried by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, (EFCC).
“You carry the votes of another party and join another party. Can you transfer votes? You work hard for somebody to win election and tomorrow, the person says I have defected.
“If you have defected, leave the seat if you know it’s easy. And this will checkmate most of these political harlots who will never sit one place,” Wike added.
Governor Wike also berated the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for abdicating their agreement of contributing 50 percent of the cost of the construction of the Eastern Bypass Road that leads to its corporate headquarters office in Port Harcourt.
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