Politics
Tribunal Sacks PDP Lawmaker, Orders Supplementary Election
The Imo Sate National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, has nullified the election of a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Tribunal also ordered National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days.
This was contained in a unanimous decision on Sunday by a three-member panel of the Tribunal 3, which conducted its proceedings in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
It held that Ugochinyere was not validly nominated by the PDP to contest the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency election that held on Feb. 25.
In its lead judgment delivered by its Chairman, Justice Anthony Akpovi specifically directed the electoral body to conduct the supplementary poll.
He said the supplementary poll should be in 55 polling units, where elections did not hold on Feb. 25.
It held that the PDP and its candidate should be excluded from the supplementary election.
The judgment followed a petition that was lodged before the tribunal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Abazu Benson.
It will be recalled that INEC had declared the PDP candidate, Ugochinyere, as winner of the election with a total of 13, 026 votes.
Whereas the candidate of the labour Party (LP), Chigozie, came second with 5,696 votes, the petitioner who was sponsored by the APC, came third with a total of 2, 368 votes.
(NAN)
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