BREAKING: More Lamentation For ‘Obidients’ As Appeal Court Sacks 2 More Labour Party Reps Member (PHOTOS)

BREAKING: More Lamentation For ‘Obidients’ As Appeal Court Sacks 2 More Labour Party Reps Member (PHOTOS)

The Court of Appeal convened in Lagos has upheld the decision of the tribunal to remove Stainless Chijioke Nwodo, the incumbent representative of Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency.

Read Also Students Organise S3x Party Inside Hostel (VIDEO)

Consequently, the Appeal Court confirmed Dr. Martins George Oke (PDP) as the legitimate and elected representative for the aforementioned Federal Constituency.

On February 26, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Labour Party’s Nwodo as the winner with 14,089 votes, surpassing incumbent Oke (PDP) and Samuel Chijioke Ekwueme (APC) who garnered 12,633 and 10,016 votes, respectively.

Read Also Tenant Caught In Bed With Landlord’s Daughter (VIDEO)

Dissatisfied with the outcome, both Ekwueme & APC and Oke & PDP filed petitions with the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Enugu, seeking to disqualify the candidate and/or nullify the election for various reasons.

While Ekwueme focused on irregularities in the election and Nwodo’s affiliation with the Labour Party, the PDP Candidate’s petition centered on Nwodo’s qualifications and discrepancies in his name.

However, on September 8, the tribunal, led by Justice Nusirat Umar, dismissed both petitions for lacking merit. Justice Umar ruled that Oke failed to substantiate the forgery allegations against the respondents, citing a contradiction in the letter from Enugu State Examination Development Centre (EDC). Furthermore, the judge pointed out that no witness from EDC testified against the certificate, and the issue of name inconsistencies couldn’t be proven by the petitioners.

Regarding the APC’s petition, which centered on the winner’s membership in the Labour Party and election irregularities, the panel ruled that the petitioner failed to provide evidence for any of the allegations and dismissed it for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

Displeased with the outcome, PDP’s Oke, who previously served in the House of Representatives between 2003-2007 & 2019-2023, appealed the tribunal’s decision.

During the Zoom-delivered judgement, the Court of Appeal set aside the tribunal’s decision and instructed INEC to immediately revoke the Certificate of Return issued to Nwodo, and issue it instead to the appellant, Oke. The panel stated that the Labour Party Candidate was not eligible to contest the election. The Court mentioned that they will provide detailed reasons for their judgement at a later date.

Read Also BREAKING: PDP In Clutches As Former Minister, Others Defect To APC (PHOTOS)

In a separate case, the Court of Appeal in Lagos also affirmed the tribunal’s decision to remove Labour Party’s Barr. Chijioke Stanislaus Okereke, and confirmed Anayo Onwuegbu as the duly elected member representing Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. On February 26, INEC declared the Labour Party as the winner with 24,571 votes, surpassing Onwuegbu (PDP) who secured 24,074 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, Onwuegbu contested the declaration of Okereke as the winner, arguing that Okereke was not a valid candidate as his name did not appear on the result sheet as the Labour Party candidate. Former minority leader, Rt Hon Toby Okechukwu’s name appeared on both the INEC list and the result sheet, not Okereke’s.

Okereke later sought and obtained a High Court judgment in his favor, claiming the Labour Party ticket. On September 9, the tribunal sided with the Petitioners, ruling that Okereke was not a candidate for the election and directed INEC to issue a certificate of return to the PDP Candidate. INEC argued that the Federal High Court judgment came too late, as printing of voting materials had already occurred.

However, Chijioke contested this decision in the Appellate Court to reclaim his mandate. Unfortunately, the Appeal Court upheld the lower Court’s judgment and affirmed Onwuegbu as the duly elected representative.

Never Miss Any News, Join Our WhatsApp Group With This Link Below

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FT0jj4WaAbcCNLfokOU6tD