BREAKING: Appeal Court Sacks Akwa Ibom House of Reps Member, Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo

• Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, a member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom State in the House of Representatives has been sacked
• The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja held that Ukpong-Udo's election violates the Electoral Act 2022 and other offences
• The appellate court nullified Ukpong-Udo's election and upheld the sack judgement earlier issued by the Akwa Ibom Election Petition Tribunal

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro and government policy

FCT, Abuja - The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo as a member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom State in the House of Representatives.

The appellate court in its judgement on Wednesday, January 17 nullified the election of Ukpong-Udo, Premium Times reported.

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The judge, Abba Mohammed, described Ukpong-Udo‘s election as a violation of the Electoral Act 2022, Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of the Election 2022 and the Manual for the Election 2023.

The appellate court upheld the judgement of the Akwa Ibom Election Petition Tribunal which had earlier sacked Ukpong-Udo.

The sacked lawmaker was first elected to the National Assembly in 2019 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform, but he later defected to the Young Progressive Party (YPP).

The Court of Appeal ordered a rerun of the election, but it is not clear if the rerun was ordered in the entire federal constituency or at the polling units which results INEC had declared inconclusive.

INEC had declared the 25 February election in the area inconclusive and conducted a supplementary election on April 15, 2023.

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The supplementary election was also cancelled due to violence and ballot box snatching.

Appeal court sacks APC House of Reps member

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that on Monday, November 6, the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the appeal court affirmed and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the rightful winner of the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency Election.

The three-man panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye held that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the appellant’s resignation on the date of his party’s primary election and that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied, saying no court has jurisdiction on the issue of membership of the party.

Source: Legit.ng