A prominent pressure group, Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Peace, Security, Good Governance, Equity & Justice has lambasted the Ebonyi State governor Dave Umahi for contravening Section 115 of the 2022 Electoral Act which was reaffirmed recently by Justice Fatun Riman of the Federal High Court Abakaliki in a suit filed by the governor to compel INEC to recognize him as the candidate of the APC for the Ebonyi South Senatorial District who stated that “the governor was not an aspirant and cannot participate in the election or pre-election matters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as regards the Ebonyi South Senatorial District, whose primary was held on the 28th day of May, 2022.
In a press statement made available to journalists in Abuja by the group and signed by the national coordinator, Comrade Uche Okoronkwo and secretary Mallam Muhammed Gusau, the duo chided Gov. Dave Umahi for running foul of the Electoral Act saying that “He neither procured nomination form for the APC Ebonyi South Senatorial primary election nor participated in the said election maintaining that it is illegal for him to lay claims to the result of the election.
The group wondered why Gov. Dave Umahi will after losing the APC presidential primary election will shamelessly return to lay claims to the victory of the Ebonyi South Senatorial election which he never contested. Ok.
The Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Peace, Security, Good Governance, Equity & Justice urged Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately recognise Princess Ann Agom-Eze as the validly elected APC candidate for the Ebonyi South Electoral District, having emerged the runner-up of the first APC primaries conducted by INEC, since the winner Mr. Austin Umahi has withdrawn from the race.
In addition, the group bereted Gov. Umahi for overheating the polity and urged him to refrain from parading himself as the APC candidate for the Ebonyi South APC Senatorial District. Concluding, the group urged Ebonyi State governor to be gender sensitive by supporting the aspiration of Princess Ann Agom-Eze, a prominent woman leader who in the past has mobilized support for the governor to boost his political base noting that Ebonyi State has the least statistics of women in politics.
The CSOs threatened to stage a protest at the INEC headquarters Abuja if the electoral umpire does not call Gov. Umahi to order.