The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, on Thursday declared the Ebonyi South Senatorial District seat vacant.
It therefore ordered Sonni Ogbuoji to vacate the seat immediately.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Akintola Aluko, held that by defecting from the party on whose platform he was elected, Ogbuoji flouted Section 68(1)(g)of the constitution.
It also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately withdraw the certificate of return issued to the senator and conduct a fresh election to fill the vacant seat.
The court also ordered the lawmaker to refund all salaries, allowances or any order form of payment he may have received as benefits from the date of his defection.
“Any lawmaker who defects to another political party when the party on whose platform he was elected was not undergoing any form of crisis or was not part of a merger with two or more political parties, shall vacate his seat,” the court ruled.
Justice Aluko held that Ogbuoji, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in 2018, flouted the law.
It therefore ordered Sonni Ogbuoji to vacate the seat immediately.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Akintola Aluko, held that by defecting from the party on whose platform he was elected, Ogbuoji flouted Section 68(1)(g)of the constitution.
It also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately withdraw the certificate of return issued to the senator and conduct a fresh election to fill the vacant seat.
The court also ordered the lawmaker to refund all salaries, allowances or any order form of payment he may have received as benefits from the date of his defection.
“Any lawmaker who defects to another political party when the party on whose platform he was elected was not undergoing any form of crisis or was not part of a merger with two or more political parties, shall vacate his seat,” the court ruled.
Justice Aluko held that Ogbuoji, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in 2018, flouted the law.
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