Tribunal sacks Enugu PDP rep, declares LP candidate winner

The Enugu Bye-Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday annulled the election of Engr Simon Atigwe, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives member representing Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency.

The tribunal, which held its sittings in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, declared Hon Dennis Agbo of the Labour Party (LP) as the rightful winner of the February 3, 2024 election.

Engr Atigwe had initially secured the seat during the 2023 general election, but his victory was later nullified by the Court of Appeal, which ordered a rerun in about ten polling units within the constituency.

Following the rerun, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Atigwe the winner with 23,863 votes, while Agbo garnered 23,226 votes. Agbo contested the results, alleging widespread manipulation, including the arrest of electoral officials with pre-filled results.

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Agbo subsequently petitioned the tribunal, arguing that the election was marred by incorrect result computation and significant non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the tribunal, chaired by Justice H.N. Kunaza, found merit in Agbo’s petition and declared him the actual winner of the Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency rerun.

In another development, the state’s chapter of the PDP on Wednesday, elected the party’s chairmanship candidate for the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state ahead of the local government election. However, only two former council chairmen, namely, Hon. Okechukwu Edeh of Nkanu East LGA and Hon. Obiora Obeagu of Isi-Uzo LGA were returned as the party’s candidates for the forthcoming council elections.

The party had also earlier elected its councillorship candidates for the 260 electoral wards of the state on Monday.

This was even as the governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, congratulated the winners and also commended party faithful for their peaceful conducts during the two primary elections.