A Federal High Court has ordered the removal of Ahmadu Fintiri, the acting governor of Adamawa state while asking the State’s Chief Judge to immediately swear in the former Deputy Governor, Bala Ngilari.
In a ruling delivered this morning, October 8, the Judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola said Ngilari did not resign from office in accordance with Section 306 (1) (2) and (5) of the constitution, before the former governor, Murtala Nyako was impeached, The Nation reports.
This implies that the bye-election
slated for Saturday by INEC, has been stopped.
However, Leadership reports that
Fintiri on Wednesday said he has instructed his lawyers to appeal against the
federal high court judgment removing him from office.
Fintiri
was sworn-in as the Acting Governor of the state after the state
house of assembly impeached the state governor, Murtala Nyako,
on allegations of financial impropriety
The deputy, Ngilari on the other
hand was said to have resigned from office to avoid being impeached by the
lawmakers alongside the governor.
Ngilari had filed a suit before the
Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order compelling his swearing in as the
governor of the state, while also asking the court to declare his resignation
letter dated July 14, 2014 and addressed to the Speaker of the state House of
Assembly, as illegal, null and void.
Meanwhile,
INEC had scheduled a bye-election for October 11, 2014 to get a new governor
for the state.
Fintiri had emerged the
candidate representing Nigeria’s ruling party, Peoples’ democratic
Party, PDP during its primaries and he would have had to battle for the
governorship post in the scheduled bye-election with Bindo Jibrilla who won All
Progressive Congress APC primaries and other aspirants from other
parties.
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