The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu has affirmed the election of Hon. Dennis Agbo of the Labour Party as the duly elected member representing Igbo-eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency of Enugu State in the National Assembly.
The Tribunal headed by Justice Nusirat Umar quashed all the issues formulated by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obiageli Ajih against the election of February 25, 2023 to challenge Hon AGBO’s election. The Tribunal dismissed the issues as incompetent and lacking in merit.
Ajih had prayed the Tribunal to nullify the election of Honourable Agbo on the grounds of Irregularities and corrupt practices, non compliance with the electoral law (omission of her party in the result sheet), and the respondent not being qualified to contest the election for, in her petition, belonging to PDP and LP at the same time, and for contesting multiple Primaries.
In the ruling read by Justice Legor T. Senewo, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed woefully to discharge the burden of proof of irregularities, and that even the testimonies of her witnesses instead, supported the respondent in their accounts.
Ruling on the issue of Honourable Agbo being a member of two Parties, Justice Senewo stressed that the petitioner not being a member of any of the Parties by her own testimony on oath, lacked the locus standi to question who is and who is not a member of either LP or PDP, noting further that issues of membership, substitution, nomination and sponsorship of a candidate for an election, were pre-election matters which the tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain.
On the third ground of the petition, which was non compliance with the electoral law, the Tribunal maintained that the declaration was made in full compliance with the electoral Act since the petitioner’s Party was on the ballot paper, her votes were, by her admition, captured and recorded in the result sheet where she voted. All other allegations of irregularities and non-recording of her votes were regrettably based simply on documentary hearsay and oral hearsay, which cannot be admitted in evidence.
Reacting to the judgement thereafter, the winner and candidate of Labour Party, Honourable Dennis Agbo, commended the Justices for a very cerebral judgement that further advances the course of electoral jurisprudence, and described it as yet another victory for democracy.
He declared that he had already hit the ground running in his bid to give his constituents a robust and effective representation and deliver democracy dividends, to justify the popular mandate and sacred trust they have reposed on him again, just like he did in the 8th Assembly.