A few days ago, the APC in Ebonyi State pronounced expulsion on Mrs Ann Agom-eze who’s in court against Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi State over the Senatorial ticket of the party in Ebonyi South Zone ahead of the 2023 elections. Recall that the actual winner of the ticket, Austin Umahi had stepped down for his elder brother, Gov. David Umahi after the APC presidential primary election which saw Umahi losing. As the electoral act demands, when a person holding ticket withdraws in writing to INEC and party, the second runner-up in the election automatically takes the ticket and that person in this case is Mrs Ann Agom-eze!
Ann Agom-eze went to the Federal High Court in Abakaliki and the court ordered that another primary election be conducted. Mrs Ann Agom-eze went to the Appeal Court and obtained a stay of execution pending when judgement on the substantive appeal would be given. She served the notice of appeal to APC and INEC. Gov. Umahi went to court in defiance to the legal action secured by her opponent and obtained an exparte order to enable him be part of the fresh primary election. Ann Agom-eze submitted the stay of execution and notice of appeal she obtained to the APC national working committee and INEC. Umahi conducted a primary election and announced himself winner.
When Umahi went to the National Working Committee at the APC national secretariat in Abuja to submit the outcome of the primary election so the party could submit same to INEC, nobody accepted the document from him since it’s only national secretariat of a party that submits the list of candidates to INEC for computation. The APC in Abuja replied him that they have notice of appeal and stay of execution over the matter and could only act once the appeal court delivers judgment on the matter. The experte order obtained by Umahi expired after seven (7) days and in law, once it expires, the action for which it’s granted to undertake expires, too. So, it’s only the outcome of the appeal filed by Ann Agom-eze that can determine the next action to take with regard to the Ebonyi South Senatorial ticket of the APC. Presently, the column for APC Ebonyi South Senatorial candidate is vacant and will remain void until the appeal court passes judgment on it.
Umahi returned to Abakaliki from Abuja and ordered that Ann Agom-eze be made to be in pain as himself by way of expelling her from the party since she aligned herself with Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and others who don’t want he (Umahi) to have a say in the South East APC. This brought about the purported expulsion of Ann Agom-eze and arrest order placed on her by Engr David Umahi.
▪︎Nwoba Chika Nwoba.
