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The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has rejected the prayers brought by the Labour Party and its candidate, Darlington Nwokocha, calling on it to reverse the judgement it delivered on the Abia Central senatorial election appeals, which sacked Nwokocha as the elected senator for Abia Central.
The court also ordered Nwokocha and his counsel to pay five million Naira to Senator Austin Akobundu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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In November, the appellate court removed LP’s Darlington Nwokocha as the senator representing the Abia Central district, replacing him with PDP’s Austin Akobundu as the duly elected senator for the Abia Central zone.
But Nwokocha and his party had asked the Appeal Court to review and reverse the ruling.
Reacting to the development on Friday, PDP’s Vice Chairman and acting Publicity Secretary in Abia State, Abraham Amah, said the dismissal of the review sought by the Labour Party and Darlington Nwokocha was another victory for PDP, Senator Austin Akobundu, the people of Abia Central, the judiciary, and the Nigerian democracy.
In another report, the Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filled an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment of the three-man panel of Appeal Court that validated the election Governor Alex Otti.
The Eastern Updates had last week reported that the three judges of the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos dismissed appeals which were brought before it by candidates of the PDP, Okey Ahiwe and All Progressives Congress (APC), High Chief Ikechi Emenike, for lack of merit.
In a unanimous decision, the three-man panel upheld the victory of Otti at the polls, saying it conformed to the Electoral Act.
The appellate court ruled that the petitions brought by the appellants lacked merit, ‘as they are like a comedy skit brought to a democratic setting.’
The court said issues of political party membership was a pre-election matter, which also fell within the jurisdiction of the political party.
