Charles Nwankwo, Abakaliki
Hopes of the Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. David Umahi to graduate to the Senate next year have been dashed.
The case of the Ebonyi governor is similar to the proverbial man who ran to kill two rats at the same time and lost both.
Umahi had contested the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was eventually won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
READ ALSO: http://2023: INEC snubs Abacha, shortlists opponents as Kano PDP guber candidate
While pursuing the presidential dream, the governor pushed his younger brother, Austin Umahi to contest the Ebonyi South senatorial primary of the APC as a proxy.
Austin Umahi won the primary and Mrs. Ann Agom-Eze came second. As planned, the younger Umahi withdrew from the election and relinquished the ticket to his elder brother Governor Umahi.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) frowned at the arrangement and omitted the governor’s name as a senatorial candidate.
Determined to pursue his dream to proceed to the Senate, Governor Umahi proceeded to the Federal High Court, Abakaliki, seeking an order to compel INEC to publish his name as the senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South.
Mrs. Ann Agom-eze applied to be joined in the suit.
READ ALSO: http://2023 general elections: Journalists, bloggers equipped to fight disinformation
Delivering his judgment in the matter on Friday, Justice Riman cited Section 115 of the Electoral Act which forbids a person from participating in two different party primaries in the same year.
The judge described the practice in vogue among politicians as a criminal offence that attracts a two-year jail term.
Justice Riman declared Mrs. Ann Agom-Eze as the authentic senatorial candidate of the APC since Austin Umahi had withdrawn from the race.
If Governor Umahi does not back down from his mirage pursuit to go to the Senate after 16 years as a deputy governor and governor, he may gain a two-year jail term bounty as Justice Riman declared in his judgment.
