BREAKING: Court Sacks PDP Federal Lawmaker, Reason Emerges

• The PDP House of Representatives member representing the Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency in Enugu state, Simon Atigwe, has been sacked
• Atigwe was sacked by the National Election Petition Tribunal in Abakaliki, sitting at the state capital, Abakaliki, on Wednesday, August 14
• The court subsequently declared Dennis Agbo of the Labour Party as the winner of the February rerun National Assembly election

A member of the House of Representatives, Simon Atigwe, representing Enugu State's Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, has been removed from office.

The National Election Petition Tribunal in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, made the ruling on Wednesday, August 14, declaring Labour Party candidate Dennis Agbo the winner of the February rerun election.

Why tribunal sacked PDP reps member

The Tribunal, led by Justice H. N. Kunaza, found merit in Agbo's petition, citing incorrect results computation and non-compliance with the Electoral Law 2022.

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The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw Atigwe's certificate of return and issue it to Agbo.

Atigwe, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was initially declared the winner of the rerun election with 23,863 votes, defeating Agbo, who received 23,226 votes. However, Agbo challenged the result, leading to the tribunal's decision.

How APC challenge PDP rep in court

This outcome follows a previous court ruling in November 2023, which voided the initial election and ordered a rerun due to irregularities. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Oby Ajih, had challenged the initial result, citing the absence of her party's logo on the INEC's EC8A form.

This is coming one year and six months after the national assembly election was held across the country. The ruling has increased the number of Labour Party lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

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PDP chieftain speaks on LG autonomy

Legit.ng earlier reported that PDP chieftain, Rilwan Olanrewaju, has commended the ruling of the Supreme Court over the local government financial autonomy.

In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, Olanrewaju called on the governors and the federal government to sit on the round table and discuss the effective implementation of the judgment.

According to the PDP chieftain, the Supreme Court verdict was a welcome development and politic to him, is local.

Source: Legit.ng