Appeal Court upholds Ikenga Ugochinyere’s Imo victory, reverses removal

The Lagos division of the Appeal Court has affirmed the election of Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the House of Representatives member for Ideato North and South Federal Constituency in Imo State.

A panel at the Appeal Court, presided over by Justice Abubakar Babandi Gumel, overturned the previous ruling of the Tribunal that had invalidated Ugochinyere’s election.

The election petition tribunal, which convened at Mararaba High Court, had declared that Ugochinyere’s candidacy under the PDP was invalid due to the absence of primary elections in the Federal Constituency. The tribunal’s decision, delivered on September 10th, also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize rerun elections in four wards involving APC and LP candidates.

However, in a unanimous decision handed down by Justice Gumel on Wednesday, the tribunal’s rulings were overruled. Justice Gumel maintained that the petition was a pre-election matter, and as such, the tribunals lacked jurisdiction over pre-election issues.