Court of Appeal rejoices after approving Amuka’s election to Enugu Parliament
There was widespread jubilation in Igbo-Etiti West, Enugu State at the weekend as the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos confirmed the election of Mr. Williams Amuka as the House of Representatives representative representing Igbo-Etiti West constituency in Enugu State.
This followed a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel chaired by Hong Jeong. Justice Bolaji Yusuf has set aside the judgment of the Enugu State Election Petitions Tribunal that invalidated the election of Amuka of the opposition Labor Party (LP).
Justice Yusuf found merit in the appeal filed by Amuka and upheld INEC’s declaration as the final winner of the March 18 House of Representatives elections.
Reacting to the judgment, which sparked wild celebrations from hundreds of voters, one of Amuka’s lawyers, Chibuzor Ezike, thanked the Court of Appeal for doing substantive justice.
“It was shocking and surprising that the court resolved all three objections raised before the court,” he said. Amuka’s legal team has ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to entertain Mr. Ugwu Charles Chukwuebuka’s petition, and PDP has made a 180-degree turn, stating that no claims have been filed with the court and seeking to disqualify their client. Reliance was placed on the rejected document.
The Court of Appeal’s decision is commendable and brings to an end a long litigation journey that began back in court. Mr. Amka won the primary election. ”
As news of the verdict reached the town, carnival-like celebrations broke out spontaneously across Igbo-Etiti, with motorcycle riders riding in formation around the local government headquarters in Ogbede, honking their horns. Ta. Market women could also be seen singing and dancing at the market.
It would be recalled that the Enugu State Election Petitions Tribunal on September 30 invalidated the election of Hon. Labour’s Mr Amuka relies on a bizarre document which the same tribunal has ruled cannot be submitted to court.
The said document, which is an affidavit of fact, was not pled nor was it listed or pre-loaded by the petitioner.
Strangely, this document was relied upon by the court to invalidate Mr. Amuka’s right to vote and disqualify him from the election, even though it was never filed with the court and should not have been on the court’s file. It was a document.
Source: guardian.ng