Umahi: Respect Court Order, APC presidential Aspirant Tells Ebonyi Governor

• By the constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Dave Umahi is expected to respect a court order
• This was the position of Rochas Okorocha, a former governor of Imo state who spoke on Wednesday, March 9, on Umahi's sack by an Abuja court
• Senator Okorocha insisted that every Nigerian citizen is expected to obey the order of a competent court

Governor Dave Umahi has been advised to respect the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja which sacked him and his deputy, Eric Igwe.

The advice came from Rochas Okorochas, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Nigerian Tribune reports.

In Okorocha's view, every pronouncement of a competent court must be respected by the concerned persons.

Okorocha who spoke with journalists on Wednesday, March 9, said as a member of the ruling party which respects the rule of law, Governor Umahi is bound by Section 287 of the APC's constitution to respect the court's order.

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His words:

“Every pronouncement by the courts should be obeyed unless subjected to a superior court for appeal. In other words, where there is an appeal to a superior court on any matter, the lower court ceases to have authority over the matter. Nobody in this country should say he will not obey any court order. Section 287 of our constitution makes it clear that ‘every institution and organ of government should be obeyed but thank God for the ruling party, it has respect for the rule of law.

“First, it is assumed that the court order no matter what form and shape it takes must be obeyed but secondly you have an opening to go to the Court of Appeals to allow the superior court to suspend the judgment of the lower court. So you have obeyed if you tell the superior court to give you another hearing on the matter. It does not mean you have not obeyed the lower court but you give the superior court to re-hear the matter.”

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Umahi: Embattled Ebonyi governor gets another bad news, knocks

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had decried the reaction of Umahi to the Federal High Court's judgment sacking him and his deputy, Eric Igwe, from office.

In a statement on Wednesday, March 9, the president of the NBA, Olumide Apata, said that it was unfortunate for Umahi who was expected to know better to react the way he did.

Apata opined that the embattled Ebonyi governor should have first called for calm in the state upon hearing the court's decision instead of involving himself in what he referred to as "national embarrassment".

Source: Legit.ng