The Imo State National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal has made a significant ruling, sacking Ikenga Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency. The tribunal found Ugochinyere, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to be an invalid candidate in the election.
In the February 25 election, Ugochinyere was declared the winner with 13,026 votes, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Labour Party candidate, Chigozie, came second with 5,696 votes, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abazu Benson, came third with 2,368 votes.
However, the APC candidate was dissatisfied with the election outcome and filed a petition before the tribunal, citing INEC, Ugochinyere, PDP, the Labour Party candidate, Obi Paschal Chigozie, and his party, LP, as respondents. The petitioner argued that Ugochinyere was not qualified to contest the House of Representatives election and that all the votes attributed to the PDP candidate were wasted votes.
The tribunal, in a unanimous decision, ruled that Ugochinyere was not validly nominated by the PDP to contest the election. The tribunal directed INEC to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days, excluding the PDP and its candidate from the supplementary election.
The tribunal found that the PDP’s primary election, which produced Ugochinyere as its candidate, was conducted outside the constituency, rendering it invalid under the Electoral Act. Therefore, Ugochinyere was not qualified to contest the election, according to the tribunal.
This ruling has significant implications for the outcome of the election in the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency and underscores the importance of valid candidate nominations and compliance with electoral laws.