The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu at the weekend sacked Hon. Chijioke Okereke of the Labour Party (LP) as member representing Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
The three-man panel led by Justice Nusirat I. Umar declared Chief Anayo Onwuegbu, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected candidate of the February 25, 2023 poll.
Onwuegbu had approached the tribunal challenging the declaration of Barrister Okereke on the grounds that he was a stranger to the election as his name was not on the result sheet as the candidate of the Labour Party.
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The panel held that Okereke wasn’t a candidate for the election and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue a certificate of return to the PDP Candidate.
The name of former minority leader of the House of Representatives, Toby Okechukwu appeared on the list published by INEC for the election.
Also, his name appeared on the result sheet during the February 25 election. However, Okereke retrieved the ticket from the court as the duly nominated candidate of LP after Hon. Okechukwu distanced himself from being a member of the Labour Party.
Okereke became the second member of the Labour Party to be sacked by the tribunal after Prof. Paul Nnamchi representing Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency in Enugu State was replaced by Hon. Prince Cornelius Nnaji, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, by a three-man panel led by A. M. Abubakar.
Prince Nnaji had challenged the declaration of Prof. Nnamchi by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election on the grounds that he was not duly sponsored and qualified to contest the election under the candidacy of Labour Party.
Meanwhile, tribunal upheld the election of Dennis Agbo of the Labour Party as the duly elected member representing Igbo-eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency of Enugu State.
Ruling in a petition brought before it by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 House of Reps contest, Obiageli Ajih, the panel, dismissed the petition for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Ajih had asked the tribunal to nullify the election of Agbo on the grounds of irregularities and corruption, non-compliance with the electoral law (omission of her party in Form EC8a) and the respondent not being a member of the LP at the time of the election.
But in a ruling read by Justice Legor T. Senewo, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove alleged irregularities.
On Agbo not being a member of LP, Justice Senewo said the petitioner lacked the locus standi to question what happened in another party.
He added that the issue of membership, substitution, nomination and sponsorship of a candidate to an election is a pre-election matter, and the tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear it.
On the third ground of the petition, which is non-compliance with the Electoral Law, the judge said the declaration was made in compliance with the Electoral Act.
The spokesperson for Chijioke Edeoga Governorship Campaign Organization, Engr George Ugwu has described the Tribunal Judgement in the Enugu East / Isi Uzo Federal Constituency election as a travesty of justice which will not stand rigorous challenge at the appeal court.
He described the judgment as temporal and reversible.
While thanking Labour Party enthusiasts for their continued support, he urged them to remain focused and unrelenting in their solidarity and prayers for LP ultimate victory at their various cases.
He described Prof Paul Nnamchi as an answered prayer to his constituents, who have begun to taste his effectiveness and impactful representation at the National Assembly.
He reassured his teeming supporters that their votes will not be in vain, wandering how the PDP and their candidate, Hon Cornelius Nnaji who lost to the LP candidate, Prof Paul Nnamuchi with over thirteen thousand (13,000) votes, could unashamedly plot to steal and thwart the people’s mandate.
He urged LP faithfuls to remain calm as the party and the candidate are determined to exhaust all legal means possible to retrieve the people’s mandate.
