Court Rules for Ben Ayade of Cross River State
The ruling in favour of Ben Ayade of Cross River state is consistent with the Constitution of Nigeria: once a governor has overcome all the direct time-limited electoral legal matters up to the Supreme Court, only impeachment, resignation and death could move him out of office. Nigeria’s Constitution has no other way because a current governor cannot even be sued. Like Dave Umahi’s victory in the Appeal Court, this call rides on the stable state of the law.
This does not mean it is morally right. In October 2018, I predicted some of these events: “Engr David Umahi will win with PDP in 2019 but will decamp to APC shortly... Decamping will be very popular because in my model, I expect Buhari to win in 2019…”
The real losers are the Nigerian people who are losing left and right even as politicians play games. But the National Assembly can legislate and put a stop by saying, you must finish your term within the party you won an election. But, will they do it?
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