APC House of Rep candidates win at election tribunal

The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia State capital, in a unanimous judgment, delivered by Hon. Justice I .P Igwe on Tuesday upheld the declaration and return of Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejiocha of All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the just concluded 2019 election.

Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Isiukwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, Jude Udeachara had in a petition No. EPT/AB/REP/009/2019 approached the tribunal to challenge the victory of Hon. Onyejiocha at the poll, seeking nullification of the APC lawmaker’s victory at the poll.

The tribunal, which held that that the petitioner failed woefully to provide any proof that would convince it (tribunal) to nullify the victory of Onyejiocha, held that the petition is fundamentally defective; hence, the tribunal lacks the jurisdiction to hear the petition.

According to the tribunal, the election which declared Hon. Onyejiocha winner of the Isiukwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency was conducted in compliance with the provisions of the electoral Act of 2010, as amended.

The tribunal, before dismissing the petition, awarded the sum of N200,000 costs against the petitioner.

In a telephone interview, the victorious APC lawmaker, said: “I am excited and happy that the tribunal was able to deliver judgment, upholding my victory at the polls. I won clearly. I didn’t rig election; this was one of my freest elections. I can say that justice is served.

“It is his right; he can go ahead and appeal the judgment. If he wants to go up to the Supreme Court, I am fully on the ground.

“He (petitioner) lost the election even in his own ward. I am sorry for him because the Judiciary is no longer for the highest bidder or the connection that the person has.

“My connection is God. He has a godfather somewhere but I have God the father. We are not asking him not to go to anywhere, but of course, you know that he was awarded a cost today.

“I am appealing to him to just pay the money today before heading to wherever court that he wants to head to. The truth of the matter is that when God says yes, no one can say No.

“It is a victory to the people of Isiukwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency because what they expected happened. As at 3 O’clock on Election Day, everything was already concluded.

“I told them that we are using the Card Readers and that no one should manipulate anything. Out of 244 wards, someone is contesting the results of 4 polling units.

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“Give him the whole collected PVCs in those polling units, he will still not win. I won him with almost 5, 000 votes because the entire PVC collected in those polling units was 2000.

“It couldn’t have gone anywhere else. Even if you give him the whole votes of the 4 polling units, he is not going to win.

“So, the petition was dead on arrival. As the judge said, they were supposed to dismiss it at the preliminary hearing, but it is good to give people a fair hearing.

“What the victory means to me is that they are going to get more democratic dividends from me and of course, they know that I have always had them in plans. This victory is also for the entire APC family in the state and the country in general.

In a similar development, Barr. Ben Kalu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has also been declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of Bende Federal Constituency seat.

Hon. Kalu is the incumbent Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Media

Delivering judgment, Hon. Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Chima Anyaso for his inability to prove his allegations beyond reasonable doubt and inconsistency in the relief sought by the petitioner from the Court.