The Supreme Court has upheld its initial judgement ordering Herman Hembe, who represented Vandeikiya/Konshisha Federal constituency of Benue State at the House of Representatives, to vacate his seat at the National Assembly.

Hembe had approached the Supreme Court again asking it to refer his case to a lower court for retrial, after he was ordered to return all the salaries he earned during his time as an illegal House member.

The Apex Court also awarded the sum of N1million against him in favour of Dorathy Mato, whom the court had ordered to replace him.

Hembe had written to the Supreme Court begging it to change its directive on the refund of salaries, saying he had no savings from his salaries as he had used the monies to cater for his family needs.

In June, Hembe was sacked as a lawmaker by the Supreme Court, which held that he was not the valid candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 National Assembly election.

The judgement also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately issue a certificate of return to Dorothy Mato, a former fashion designer and member of the Benue State House of Assembly, as the authentic winner of the election.