The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Ayade

  • Umahi, Ayade, Ikpeazu visits Wike attempts to lure him to APC

    Umahi, Ayade, Ikpeazu visits Wike attempts to lure him to APC

    Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State on Wednesday night, led his Cross River and Abia States counterparts, Ben Ayade and Okezie Ikpeazu respectively, on a quiet visit to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

    The meeting which took place at Wike’s private home at Rumuekirikom, Obio Akpor Local Governor Area of the state, was said to have lasted into the early hours of Thursday.

    Though details of the meeting was not made known as the four governors refused to speak to newsmen when it was concluded, inside sources say it may not have been unconnected with attempts to lure Wike to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), following his much publicised falling out with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Wike’s grouse with the PDP has seen him vow not to campaign for presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, over his insistence that the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, must step down.

    He has the backing of four other governors of the party who include Ikpeazu, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, and Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

    Before their defection to the APC,

    Umahi and Ayade, were members of the PDP and were elected as governors on the platform of the opposition party in 2015 and in 2019.

    But both dumped the PDP in 2020 and 2021 respectively with Umahi going ahead to contest in the presidential primary ticket of the APC where he lost to eventual winner, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    (Ripples)

  • Court declines to sack Ayade, deputy for defecting to APC

    The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, dismissed the suit the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, filed to declare the seat of Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State and his Deputy, Ivara Esu, vacant, following their defection to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.

    The court, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, held that the duo could not be sacked from their positions, other than through statutory procedures that were stipulated in sections 180, 188 and 189 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

    It held that defection to another political party was not stated as one of the grounds for the removal of either a governor or his deputy.

    “The 3rd and 4th Defendant cannot be removed except by Constitutional provision.

    “This court has no power to declare vacant the seat of the 3rd and 4th Defendants”, Justice Ekwo held.

    PDP had in its suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/975/2021, prayed the court to sack both Ayade and his deputy, contending that the duo, having abandoned the political party that sponsored their re-election, ought to vacate their respective offices.

    It had among other things, urged the court to declare that, “in view of the provisions of section 221 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the democratic system of governance operated in Nigeria, votes at the election and elections are won by political parties and not their candidate or the candidates sponsored at the election by the political parties”.

    It prayed the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately, “receive from the plaintiff (PDP), the name of its candidates to replace the 3rd and 4th defendants (Ayade and Esu) for the purpose of utilising the lawful votes cast in favour of the plaintiff or in the alternative directing the 1st defendant to hold a gubernatorial election for Cross River State in accordance with Section 177 of the Constitution excluding the 3rd and 4th defendants who are disqualified from participating in the election by virtue of Section 192 (1) (b) of the Constitution) arising from abandonment of the majority lawful votes and the offices occasioned by the action of the 3rd and 4th defendants by reason of their becoming members of the 2nd defendant who did not win majority of the lawful votes cast at the election”.

    Aside from Ayade and his deputy, the INEC and APC were also cited as Defendants in the matter.

    (Vanguard)