The tribunal concluded that the correct results showed Agbo winning with 23,221 votes against the PDP’s 21,863 votes, and thus ordered that the certificate of return be given to Agbo.
Enugu, Nigeria – The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu has upheld the ruling of the House of Representatives election tribunal, which nullified the election of Rt. Hon.Simon Atigwe as the representative of the Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency.
The court declared Hon. Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party as the rightful winner.
The judgement, delivered on Wednesday in Enugu, confirmed that Hon. Atigwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not duly elected by the valid votes cast in the re-run election held earlier this year. The court also ordered that the certificate of return issued to Atigwe be withdrawn and a fresh certificate issued to Agbo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Atigwe the winner of the February 3, 2024, re-run election, stating that he polled 23,863 votes to defeat Hon. Agbo of the Labour Party, who garnered 23,226 votes. However, Agbo, who had initially won the February 25, 2023, general election before being sacked by the appellate court, challenged the re-run results at the tribunal.
Agbo argued that the re-run election was marred by irregularities, including wrong computation of results and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act. The tribunal, headed by Justice H. N. Kunaza, ruled in his favor on August 14, 2024, and declared him the actual winner of the constituency.
Justice Kunaza’s panel nullified 2,000 votes that were allegedly added to the PDP candidate’s tally during the re-run and restored the results of the February 25, 2023, election, which had Agbo polling 28,870 votes to the PDP’s 14,229 votes. The tribunal concluded that the correct results showed Agbo winning with 23,221 votes against the PDP’s 21,863 votes, and thus ordered that the certificate of return be given to Agbo.
With the Appeal Court’s affirmation of the tribunal’s ruling, Hon. Dennis Agbo will return to the House of Representatives as the duly elected member for the Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency.
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