By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Last week’s spanner-in-the-works judgment by Justice Ekwo Inyang of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court sacking of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State is inducing political fever in Zamfara and Cross River states.

The governors of both states, Bello Matawale (Zamfara) and Ben Ayade (Cross River) aside others on the legislative and executive list who have benefited from the largesse of defection to other parties after securing election on the platform of another, are apprehensive of what will become their fate after the dramatic happenings in Ebonyi.

In the executive cadre, both Matawalle and Ayade have decamped from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Council (APC).

The PDP is not lying low on the matters as they are fighting hard to reclaim its lost mandate, officials say.

Taking a cue from Umahi’s case, the PDP is headed back to the court, demanding the sack of another set of two state governors.

The PDP is seeking the sack of Ayade and his deputy, Ivara Esu. While both are being requested to vacate their respective offices in terror-shocked Zamfara, however, only Matawalle was dragged before the high court.

Way back, though Governor Matawalle decamped to the APC, his former deputy, Mahdi Aliyu-Gusau, refused to jump ship from the PDP with him.

Aliyu-Gusau was thereafter impeached by the Zamfara State House of Assembly on February 24, after which Senator Hassan Nasih was sworn in to replace him.

The PDP had maintained, in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/489/2021, that given an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court, to the effect that the APC had no candidate in the 2019 governorship election in Zamfara State, it had not conducted valid primaries.

The party argued that it would be unlawful for Matawalle to retain his office since he had joined the APC.

It, therefore, requested the court to, among other things, declare that Matawalle must resign to allow INEC to conduct a fresh governorship election within 90 days, to enable the PDP to replace him.

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Ayade’s case is coming on the heels of the same predicament.
Before his defection, the Cross River State governor had denied rumours that he was deposed to an affidavit claiming he was still a member of the PDP.
A quote, allegedly taken from an affidavit he deposed to in response to suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/975/2021 filed by the PDP asking the court to sack him following his defection to the APC last year, said he had denied taking such actions.

Now, following the judgement of Justice Ekwo Inyang in the Umahi’s case, the quote has circulated widely on social media, but without proof of authenticity.

Ayade had been quoted to have claimed in an affidavit, “I am not a registered member of APC, I only decamped to APC”.

Meanwhile, the Cross River State helmsman has taken to his verified Facebook page, to debunk the claim.

He wrote, “I am a bona fide and registered member of the APC. Stop the cheap propaganda aimed at wooing APC members to PDP.”

It was, however, learnt yesterday that five serving lawmakers in the Cross River State House of Assembly allegedly dumped the APC and returned to the PDP after their initial defection alongside Ayade.
Umahi and his deputy, Dr Eric Igwe, were sacked by the Abuja court on March 8.