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The National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu on Tuesday sacked Hon. Sunday Umeha as the lawmaker representing Udi/Ezeagu Federal Constituency of Enugu State.
The Eastern Updates reports that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Umeha of the Labour Party as the winner of the February 25 election ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Festus Uzor.
Uzor, however, disputed the results of the election due to purported fraud in the process.
In addition, he informed the tribunal that Umeha had not actually left the PDP before choosing the LP ticket.
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In its ruling, the three-member panel led by Justice A.M. Abubakar agreed with the petitioner that the respondent did not properly resign from the PDP before he was nominated as the LP candidate in the constituency.
Abubakar, who read the judgement, held that the resignation letter tendered by Umeha was signed by someone that was no longer a leader of PDP.
The panel, thereafter, directed INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to Uzor as the duly elected lawmaker in the constituency.
The Eastern Updates reports that this is coming less than 48 hours after the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia, has sacked Ibe Okwara, of the Labour Party (LP) as the member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency.
It declared the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Dan Okeke as the winner of the 25th of February, 2023 National Assembly election in the constituency.
The Eastern Updates recalls that while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the LP candidate as the winner of the exercise, an unsatisfied Okeke approached the court to seek the nullification of Ibe’s election.
He alleged that the LP candidate’s win did not comply with the provisions of the law.
