Governor of Cross River State, Prof Ben Ayade, has got a reprieve from the court Thursday afternoon after Justice Taiwo Taiwo dismissed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party seeking his removal from office.
PDP had demanded the removal of the governor from office after his defection to the All Progressive Congress.
He was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The PDP had, in its suit, claimed that the governor could no longer enjoy a mandate given to him on the platform of the PDP while moving to the APC.
“This court has no power to declare vacant the seat of the Governor and Deputy,” the judge said.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo departed from his earlier judgment and held on to the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on April 1, to the effect that defection of a Governor and his Deputy is not an offence under the Nigerian Constitution for now.
The Judge held that governors and their deputies can only be removed from office in line with sections 180, 188 and 189 of the Constitution which stipulated that they can only be removed from office on account of death, resignation or impeachment.
Justice Taiwo said that since defection is not one of the Constitutional provisions, no court has power to insert such into the Supreme Law.
He, however, agreed that defection from a winning party to a losing one is immoral and improper.
Details later…