The Court of Appeal in Lagos, Wednesday, affirmed the election of the member representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere, as the validly elected member of the House of Representatives.
In a unanimous judgment, the panel headed by Justice Abubakar Babandi Gumel upturned the judgment of the Imo State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which had disqualified Ikenga on a pre-election matter of the primary election of the PDP despite a plethora of authorities by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal to the effect that Election Tribunals do not have jurisdiction over pre-election matters.
Speaking after the judgment, counsel to Ugochinyere, Emeka Ozoani, SAN, described the judgement as victory for democracy and an end to political rascality.
He said the travesty of the tribunal judgment led to the filing of nine appeals before the Appeal Court, the highest number of appeals ever against a singular judgment in the nation’s election petition jurisprudence.
