A Federal High Court in Abuja has rescheduled judgement for April 6 in the suit seeking to sack the Cross River Governor, Ben Ayande and his Deputy, Ivara Esu over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Taiwo Taiwo had earlier planned the judgment for today, March 25, 2022.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/975/2021, the PDP, through its counsel, Emmanuel Ukala, is seeking an order sacking the governor and his deputy on account of their defection to APC.
Already Taiwo had in his earlier judgment on Monday, ordered two House of Representatives members representing Cross River and 18 lawmakers from the state’s House of Assembly to vacate their seats, following their defection to APC.
Ayade was elected on the platform of the PDP in 2015 and 2019, but decamped to APC on May 20 along with his deputy, and declared that Cross River State is ‘now an APC state’ and effectively caused the governance of the state to be in the control of the APC.
The party (PDP) argued that the mandate given by the electorate in Cross River State was to the PDP and Ayade as the candidate of the party at the election and that the governor cannot transfer the mandate to APC or any other political party.
The plaintiff is equally seeking a judicial declaration giving it an opportunity to nominate a replacement to the seat of the governor and the deputy governor in Cross River State.
But, it was gathered this morning that the judgement would now be rendered on April 6.
