THE Labour Party (LP) senatorial candidate for Abia North in the 2023 election, Nnamdi Iro Orji, has asked the Appeal Court to nullify Orji Uzor Kalu’s election as senator representing the district at the National Assembly.
The LP candidate alleged the election did not adhere to the Electoral Act 2022.
In the appeal filed by his lawyer, Bert C. Iqwilo, Orji claimed that the election was not held in some polling units in addition to other violations of the Electoral Act.
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“Without the record of accreditation by BVAS and the voters register, there is no election. These are basic provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the regulations made by INEC,” he stated.
He pleaded with the appellate Court to resolve the issue in his favour.
Kalu was declared the election winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with 30,805 votes, while Nnamdi Iroh received 27,540 votes in the February 25 election.
The ICIR reports that sacked Adamawa Senator Ishaku Abbo had accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of orchestrating his removal from the 10th Senate.
In what he described as a targeted move against him and four colleagues, Abbo stated that his removal was retaliation for opposing Akpabio’s Senate Presidency aspiration.
He alleged the four targeted senators include Orji Uzor Kalu.
He said, “I have it from a reliable source that myself and four other senators within the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be removed from the Senate through rulings from the courts, all because of working against the emergence of Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate.
“I won’t mention the names of all the four other ones targeted, but the next in line is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.”
Abbo, a member of the Progressives Congress (APC), made this allegation on Monday, October 16, while speaking with journalists shortly after his sack by the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, Akpabio denied the claim. Speaking through his spokesperson, Eseme Eyiboh, the Senate President said the outcome of any court proceeding is a function of the evaluation of facts and evidence within the province of the rule of law.
“It is uncharitable for Senator Abbo to pour his frustrations on Senator Akpabio or anyone else and his action betrays the bile he has for Senator Akpabio.
“Senator Akpabio, for emphasis, has no ill will towards any of his distinguished colleagues, and as he has said in the past, the embers of the leadership election have been buried and replaced by the fraternal bond of nation-building he shares with the overwhelming majority of senators,” he said.
The ICIR reported that the Court of Appeal in Abuja sacked Abbo, who represented Adamawa North Senatorial District. In its ruling on Monday, October 16, the Court declared Amos Yohannah of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the senatorial election.
INEC initially declared Abbo as senator-elect in February 2023, but Yohanna challenged the decision at the Election Petition Tribunal.
Despite dismissing Yohanna’s plea, Abbo, represented by his lawyer, Johnson Usman, appealed the tribunal’s ruling through appeal number CA/YL/EP/AD/SEN/06/2023 at the Appeal Court.
The Court of Appeal concurred with Usman that, in light of Section 137 of the Electoral Act of 2022, the results showed that the Electoral Act was not followed.
The Court, therefore, took the illegitimate votes away from the candidates and ruled that Yohanna and the PDP had received the majority of valid votes to win the election.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance