A Federal High Court sitting in Owerri the Imo state capital has sacked the member-elect representing Nkwerre/ Nwangele / Njaba / Isu Federal constituency of Imo State, Ugonna Ozurigbo, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a judgment delivered on Monday, the presiding Judge, Justice Tijani Ringim, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to issue a Certificate of Return to candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kingsley Echendu, who came second at the polls, even though the PDP nor its candidate was not a party to the suit .
The court affirmed that the plaintiff, Mr Harrison Nwadike is the rightful winner of the All Progressives Congress primary election for the Federal constituency.
Nwadike had filed a suit against his party the APC and INEC over the submission of Ugonna Ozurigbo’s name as the candidate of the party after the primary election in the state.
Justice Ringim however declared the primary election null and void and said that the candidacy of Ozurigbo was illegitimate and ordered INEC to issue the PDP candidate Echendu who came second in the general election with a Certificate of Return as the rightful winner of the election.
The petitioner who spoke to newsmen after the judgment said that he agreed with the court ruling that his candidate was not the rightful winner of the APC primary election in the Federal constituency, but he faulted the decision of the court which ordered INEC to give the certificate of return to the PDP candidate as the winner of the election.
He insisted that ruling will be appealed.
