1 month ago
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The House of Representatives Tribunal has removed Simon Atigwe, the representative for the Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency.
Furthermore, the tribunal has recognized Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party as the legitimate winner of the rerun election for the Igbo Eze North/Udenu Federal constituency.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously announced Atigwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the rerun election conducted on February 3, 2024.
According to INEC, the PDP candidate received 23,863 votes, surpassing Agbo, who garnered 23,226 votes. Agbo, who had initially won the election on February 25, 2023, but was later ousted by the appellate court, sought redress at the tribunal to contest Atigwe’s declaration.
His legal representatives contended that erroneous result calculations and significant violations of the electoral act, among other issues, tainted the rerun election.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, August 14, the tribunal, presided over by Justice H. N. Kunaza, found the petition to be valid and declared Dennis Nnamdi Agbo as the rightful winner of the Igbo Eze North/Udenu Federal constituency.
Justice Kunaza’s panel invalidated the additional 2,000 votes attributed to the PDP candidate and reinstated the votes from the February 25, 2023 election, which were 14,229 for the PDP and 28,870 for the Labour Party candidate, Rt. Hon. Dennis Agbo.
The tribunal also determined that Atigwe was not duly elected based on the valid votes cast, as Agbo received 23,221 votes compared to the PDP’s 21,863 votes. Consequently, the certificate of return issued to Atigwe is to be revoked and reissued to Agbo.
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