Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, member representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency has declared that the judgment of the Imo Sate National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal which removed him contradicted the positions of the law.
The House Committee chairman on Petroleum (Downstream), in his reaction to the judgment, said “despite the obvious positions of law, the tribunal did what it did”.
He referred to Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution which he said made the case of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against his nomination a pre-election matter.
According to him, such a pre-election suit can only be heard or determined by a Federal High Court and not the election petitions tribunal.
Further faulting the verdict, Ugochinyere insisted that only a political party is vested with locus standi to file a pre-election matter when dispute on nomination affects its own candidates
Further countering the tribunal’s verdict, Ugochinyere cited a Supreme Court judgment marked SC/CV/501/2023, in which the apex court described a political party that files a suit to challenge the nomination of the candidate of another party as a nosy busybody and a meddlesome interloper.
He contended that while the Supreme Court had held on several occasions that no court of law can entertain a suit involving internal affairs of another political party, the tribunal went ahead and removed him based on a faulty petition by the APC candidate, Abazu Chika Benson.
Ugochinyere alleged that Imo State governor, Hope Udzodimma, was behind the tribunal’s verdict, which he described as a legal coup.
He declared his readiness to win the supplementary poll ordered by the tribunal.
“Hope Uzodimma should know that we will never bow, Imo will win and Ideato will win. Let me state it clearly to Hope Uzodimma, the outcome of whatever happens in this House of Representatives election will not define who Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere is.
“It has never been a do or die fight, but be rest assured that I will give it my best shot and my best shot has always been on the side of the people, sanctioned by God.
“We are coming to Imo for campaigns, when we come down, Ndi Imo will see that nothing has happened in the past four years except using the common patrimony of the people to massage the over bloated ego of an under-serving emperor who will soon be voted out by the people.
“Abazu won only one polling unit out of 346 polling units in the Ideato Federal Constituency and that is the person you want to make Reps member. Heroes do not trend on smooth ground, they meet their setback but they triumph by clinching the ultimate victory.
“In all these jokes from Uzodimma, we have remained the victors backed by the immeasurable love of God and support of our people. Tomorrow will tell.”
The Tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to within 90 days, conduct a supplementary election in the constituency.
