Disturbing News For Obi, Obidients As Tribunal Sacks Three Labour Party Reps Members, Orders Rerun
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal convened in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, delivered rulings on Monday that led to the removal of three House of Representatives members who were elected under the Labour Party.
One of the panels, led by Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, ousted Mr. Ibe Okwara Osunwa, the representative for Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency. This decision was based on non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022, as per a petition filed by Daniel Okeke of the All Progressives Congress.
Consequently, the tribunal directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to revoke Osunwa’s issued certificate of return and reissue it to Okeke.
In a related development, another panel headed by Justice Hajaratu Hajjo Lawa nullified the election of Munachim Alozie, who represented Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo Federal Constituency. The court ordered a rerun to be conducted within the next 90 days, in accordance with the constitution.
The tribunal clarified that the LP candidate’s declaration was made in error and, therefore, could not be upheld.
During the announcement of the verdict, Prof. Muhammad Mahmud, speaking on behalf of the three-member panel presided over by Lawal, pointed out that the number of leads exceeded the number of voters who were disenfranchised in some polling units, despite collecting their Permanent Voters Cards.
Following the declaration of Alozie as the victor of the February 25 National Assembly election, the candidate of the Young Progressives Party, Ibe Michael Nwoke, approached the court seeking its annulment.
Among other requests, Nwoke urged the court to nullify Alozie’s election on the grounds that he was not legitimately elected, and his victory was invalidated by the margin of lead.
While the counsel for YPP’s candidate deemed the ruling fair, the LP’s legal representative expressed an intention to appeal the case.
Similarly, a separate tribunal panel nullified the election of Mr. Emeka Nnamani, the representative for Aba North and South Federal Constituency, due to certificate forgery. The tribunal declared Alex Ikwueche of the All Progressives Grand Alliance as the rightful winner and directed INEC to rescind Nnamani’s certificate of return and issue a new one to Ikwueche.
