An Abuja Federal High Court on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare Ifeanyi Ararume as the winner of the December 5, 2020 bye-election for the Imo North Senatorial District of Imo state.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo while giving judgement held that Ararume remains the authentic candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, ordering the electoral body to issue Certificate of Return to Ararume within 72 hours from the delivery of the judgment.
Justice Taiwo had earlier dimissed the preliminary Objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain Ararume’s suit filed by the APC and Chukwuma Ibezim.
Ararume’s counsel, Ahmed Raji had told the judge to invoke the judgments of a Federal High Court and that of Appeal Court to disqualify Ibezim and declare him as the rightful candidate for APC.
Raji said that the judgments of the high court and later the Court of Appeal have conclusively disqualified Ibezim and cannot claim to be a candidate in the Imo North Senatorial election.
Opposing Ararume’s suit, APC had told court that it never fielded Ararume for the last year December senatorial bye-election for Imo North Senatorial district, insisting that Ararume lacked locus standi to lay claim to the candidacy and urged the court to dismiss his suit.
Ararume had dragged the INEC, APC and Ibezim before the Federal High Court praying for an order to compel INEC to recognize him as a APC senatorial candidate in the election won by the party.
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He claimed that Ibezim, having been disqualified by a Federal High Court on account of supplying false information to INEC and same disqualification having been upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, had knocked off Ibezim from laying any claim to the outcome of the by-election.
Countering Ararume’s claim, APC, through its counsel, Osho Daudu asked the court to discontenance Ararume’s claims insisting that his name was never forwarded to INEC but that of Chukwuma Ibezim.
Justice Taiwo however ordered INEC to recognise Ararume as APC’s authentic candidate of the December 5, 2020 Imo North Senatorial bye elections.
APC’s counsel had earlier submitted that a Federal High Court judgment delivered in Owerri, Imo State which erroneously conferred locus on Ararume had been voided by Supreme Court and cannot confer any advantage on the plaintiff.
Emma Osayomi, representing Ibezim, had also argued that as at the election day, the name of his client was on the INEC list and not that of Ararume and urged the court to dismiss Ararume’s claims, having approached the Supreme Court to challenge his disqualification on account of variation in his name.
