Court shifts judgment in defection suit against Ayade till April 7

 

A Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the delivering of judgment in the defection action filed against Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade until April 7.

Justice Taiwo Oladipupo Taiwo postponed the delivering of the verdict to assess the consequences of a Court of Appeal rehearing on the defection.

Five days ago, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, ruled that defection did not constitute a known crime, but rather a violation of fundamental rights to freedom of association as outlined in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution.

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Ben Ayade and his deputy had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), prompting the PDP to ask the court to declare their seats vacant.

Mike Ozekhome SAN, counsel to the governor, had in a letter drawn the attention of the court to the Court of Appeal judgment and prayed the court to bow and respect the decision of the higher Court of Appeal.

Details later.