Court of Appeal Sacks PDP Federal Lawmaker, Gives Reason
- PDP federal lawmaker representing Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency in Enugu state in the House of Representatives, Honourable Simon Atigwe, has been sacked
- Justice H. N. Kunaza of the Court of Appeal subsequently declared Hon. Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party (LP) as the authentic representative of the federal constituency
- Recall that Agbo initially won the February 25 National Assembly election but was sacked, leading to a rerun of the election where Atigwe was declared the winner
The Court of Appeal in Enugu has delivered a verdict that changes the representation of Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency. Honourable Simon Atigwe, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, was sacked as the representative on Wednesday, October 9.
The appeal court upheld the ruling of the House of Representatives tribunal, declaring Hon. Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party (LP) as the rightful winner of the February 25, 2023 National Assembly election.
Source: Twitter
According to Vanguard, Agbo initially won the election but was later sacked, leading to a rerun election on February 3, 2024, which Atigwe won. However, Agbo contested the outcome, citing irregularities such as incorrect result computation and non-compliance with the electoral act.
Why appeal court sacked PDP federal lawmaker
The appeal court, headed by Justice H. N. Kunaza, found merit in Agbo's petition. The court invalidated 2,000 votes added to Atigwe's tally and restored the original votes from February 25, 2023.
According to the revised results, Agbo secured 28,870 votes, while Atigwe garnered 14,229. The court ruled that Atigwe was not duly elected, and Agbo won with 23,221 votes against the PDP candidate, who garnered 21,863.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal ordered the withdrawal of Atigwe's certificate of return and its issuance to Hon. Agbo. This verdict marks a significant shift in the representation of the Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency.
PDP chieftain speaks on LG autonomy
Legit.ng earlier reported that PDP chieftain Rilwan Olanrewaju commended the Supreme Court's ruling on the local government's financial autonomy.
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, Olanrewaju called on the governors and the federal government to sit at the round table and discuss the effective implementation of the judgment.
According to the PDP chieftain, the Supreme Court's verdict was a welcome development, and politics to him is local.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng
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Source: Legit.ng
