Uche Nwosu, who is the son-in-law
and protege of former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha lost again to
Emeka Ihedioha at Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The court, however, affirmed the
victory of Emeka Ihedioha in the March 9 governorship election in Imo.
Nwosu had filed an appeal against
the judgment of the Imo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld
the election of Ihedioha.
Appeals filed by the All
Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and his governorship candidate, Senator
Ifeanyi Ararume and that of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its
governorship candidate, Sen. Hope Uzodinma were also dismissed.
The appellants are asking the
appellate court to void the election of Ihedioha on grounds that he did not
obtain the constitutional one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of
the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with Section 179 of the
Constitution.
In their various submissions by
their counsel, the appellants are asking the court to set aside the decision of
the tribunal and declare them winner of the March 9 governorship election.
Also in the alternative order the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election
into the office of Governor of Imo State.
In a unanimous judgment, the five
-man panel presided by Justice Oyebisi Omoyele dismissed the appeal by Action
Alliance and it’s candidate, Uche Nwosu for lack of merit and upheld the
judgment of the lower tribunal.
In addition, a cost of N500, O00
was awarded against the appellants.
The panel upheld the judgment of
the lower tribunal adding that the assessment of the tribunal was thorough and
resolved the appeal against the appellants.
In Sen. Hope Uzodinma’s appeal,
there was a dissenting judgment of ratio 4:1
Four members agreed that the
appeal lacks merit, in addition, awarded a cost of N500, 000 against the
appellants while a member saw merit in the appeal and said that the judgment of
the lower court be set aside awarded a cost of N1million against PDP and Ihedioha.
In Ifeanyi Ararume’s appeal, the
appeal was also dismissed for inability of the appellants prove their
allegations against the respondents.
The panel affirmed the judgment
of the lower tribunal and awarded a cost of N500, 000 against the appellants.
The three-member panel of the
tribunal had in a unanimous decison delivered on Sept. 21, held that Ihedioha
was lawfully declared winner of the governorship election by INEC.
The panel chaired by Justice
Malami Dongondaji, had in the judgment dismissed Ararume, Nwosu and Uzodinma’s
petitions for lacking in merit on the grounds that they failed to prove
allegations made in their petitions.
They claimed that Ihedioha did
not obtain the constitutional one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds
of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with the provisions of
the law.
The petitioners also alleged
substantially of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and Guidelines,
including other irregularities.
The tribunal in its judgment held
that the case of the petitioners was unmeritorious because they failed to call
relevant witnesses and that evidence of witnesses called were based on hearsay.
The tribunal in addition rejected
documents tendered by the petitioners in support of their claims on the grounds
that those who led evidence in the documents were not the makers of the
documents.
In his appeal, Ararume urged the
appellate court to upturn the decision of the tribunal on the grounds that the
lower court erred in law when it arrived at the decision that his case and that
of his party lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it.
The appeal which was predicated
on 22 grounds was argued by his lead lawyer, Mr Awa Kalu, SAN, while that of
Nwosu and AA, was argued by Mr Niyi Akintola SAN, and that of Uzodinma and APC,
was argued by Mr Damian Dodo, SAN.
They all urged the panel to allow
the appeal and grant all the reliefs sought by the appellants.
However, lead counsel to Emeka
Ihedioha and Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and Mr K.O.
Njemanze, SAN, respectively urged the court to dismiss the appeals for being
incompetent and lacking in merit.
The respondents submitted that
the appeal of the AA and Nwosu, in particular, constitute a waste of precious
time.
They argued that the Supreme
Court in a judgment delivered on October 22, had already struck out the name of
Uche Nwosu as candidate of the AA in the March 9 governorship election in Imo
State.
The respondents also claimed that
the appeal of Nwosu lacked merit going by a recent judgment of the Court of
Appeal which nullified the candidacy of Nwosu in the governorship election.
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