The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Owerri has sacked the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for Ideato North, South Federal Constituency, Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere, who emerged winner in the February 25, 2023 general election.
The three-man panel led by Justice Anthony Akpovi while delivering judgment held that the primaries that produced Ugochinyere as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party was illegal, null, and void, as it did not take place within the constituency as stipulated by law.
The tribunal, which is sitting in Nasarawa state, also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, within 90 days, conduct a supplementary election in 55 polling units, where the petitioner successfully proved that the election was never held.
The Tribunal, however, barred Ugochinyere and his party, the PDP from participating in the ordered supplementary election, having violated the Electoral Act while conducting the said primary election.
The judgment was on a petition before the tribunal filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abazu Benson, and his party.
The respondents in the petition are INEC, Ugochinyere, PDP, candidates of the Labour Party, Obi Paschal Chigozie, and the Labour Party, as 1st to 5th respondents respectively.
INEC had declared Ugochinyere the winner, polling a total of 13,026 votes to floor his closest rival in the election, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Pascal Obim, who scored 5,696 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chika Abazu, polled 2,368 votes in the election.
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Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the APC candidate filed a petition before the Tribunal, contending that Ugochinyere was not qualified to participate in the election.
The petitioner told the tribunal that contrary to the express provision of the Electoral Act, the PDP, conducted its primary election in a venue that was outside the constituency.
While delivering judgement, the tribunal pointed out that documentary and oral evidence that was before it, established that the primary election the PDP conducted on May 25, 2022, which produced Ugochinyere as its candidate, was held at Aladinma Shopping Mall, a location that was outside Ideato North/South Federal Constituency.
The three-man panel, while relying on the provision of section 84 (5) (c)of the Electoral Act 2022, held that PDP’s primary election was invalid, as a valid candidate could not have emerged from an invalid primary election, as such, Ugochinyere was not qualified as at the time the House of Representatives election held.
The tribunal while ordering INEC to conduct supplementary election in 55 polling units, having admitted that elections did not hold, the tribunal also held that, the candidate of the LP, Chigozie, could not be declared the winner of the seat, owing to the principle of margin of lead.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
