Just In : Sleepless Nights For popular senator As Appeal Court Told To Nullify His Election Amid Senator Abbo’s Revelation On Next Target To Be Removed From Senate (DETAILS)
Nnamdi Iro Orji, the senatorial candidate for Abia North under the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, has petitioned the Appeal Court to invalidate the election of Orji Uzor Kalu as the senator representing the district in the National Assembly.
Orji, the LP candidate, contends that the election did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022.
In the appeal submitted by his legal representative, Bert C. Iqwilo, Orji maintains that the election was not conducted in certain polling units, along with other purported breaches of the Electoral Act.
“Without the record of accreditation by BVAS and the voters register, there is no election. These are basic provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the regulations made by INEC,” he stated.
He implored the appellate Court to rule in his favor.
Kalu was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 30,805 votes, while Nnamdi Iroh received 27,540 votes in the election held on February 25.
Ousted Adamawa Senator Ishaku Abbo had accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of engineering his expulsion from the 10th Senate. Abbo asserted that his removal, along with that of four other colleagues, was a deliberate move against them. He claimed that this action was in retaliation for their opposition to Akpabio’s Senate Presidency ambition. Abbo also alleged that among the four targeted senators was Orji Uzor Kalu.
He said, “I have it from a reliable source that myself and four other senators within the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be removed from the Senate through rulings from the courts, all because of working against the emergence of Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate.
“I won’t mention the names of all the four other ones targeted, but the next in line is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.”
Abbo, a member of the Progressives Congress (APC), leveled this accusation on Monday, October 16, during a conversation with journalists shortly after his removal by the Court of Appeal.
In response, Akpabio refuted the assertion. Communicating through his spokesperson, Eseme Eyiboh, the Senate President emphasized that the verdict of any court proceeding is determined by the assessment of facts and evidence according to the principles of the rule of law.
“It is uncharitable for Senator Abbo to pour his frustrations on Senator Akpabio or anyone else and his action betrays the bile he has for Senator Akpabio.
“Senator Akpabio, for emphasis, has no ill will towards any of his distinguished colleagues, and as he has said in the past, the embers of the leadership election have been buried and replaced by the fraternal bond of nation-building he shares with the overwhelming majority of senators,” he said.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja removed Abbo from his position representing Adamawa North Senatorial District. In its verdict on Monday, October 16, the Court declared Amos Yohannah of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the victor of the senatorial election.
