Court Sacks Imo APC Reps Member-Elect, Orders INEC to Issue Certificate of Return To PDP Candidate
A Federal High Court in Owerri on Monday sacked the member-elect for Nkwerre/Nwangele/Njaba/Isu federal constituency of Imo State, Ugonna Ozurigbo. Ozurigbo had, last Wednesday, resigned his position as the Deputy Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly. Justice P.A. Rigime, who delivered the judgment, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to Kingsley Echendu of the Peoples Democratic Party. Neither PDP nor its candidate was a party to the suit. The court said that Harrison Nwadike, who is the plaintiff, was the “rightful winner” of the All Progressives Congress primary election in the federal constituency. Nwadike had taken his party, APC, and INEC to court over the submission of Ozurigbo’s name as the candidate of the party. Nwadike, who prayed the court to declare him as the APC’s rightful candidate, contended that automatic tickets were unknown to the Constitution. The court, in its judgment, agreed with the petit