Appeal court nullifies Imo-North senatorial election

The Appeal Court sitting in Owerri, Imo State, on Friday nullified the election of Senator Athan Nneji Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party representing Imo-North Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

In the lead appeal with suit number CA/OW/EPT/SN/52/2015 filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission challenging the verdict of the lower tribunal nullifying the election of Achonu, the court endorsed the decision of the tribunal.

A counsel for the Accord Party (first respondent in the appeal), Mr. Uche Wisdom Durueke, explained that the appeal failed largely because of a fundamental slip on the part of INEC of which the court held that it was unjustifiable not to have put the logo of the Accord Party in the ballot papers for the said election in spite of the fact that INEC had duly cleared the party to participate in the election.

“The Appeal Court accordingly affirmed the judgement of the lower tribunal nullifying Senator Achonu’s election and further directed that a re-run election be conducted within the next 90 days,” he said.

Commenting, the Imo State Chairman of the Accord Party, Ibe ThankGod, explained that the party challenged the election at the tribunal in the first place because “a brazen injustice was meted out on the party and its candidate.”

He said, “We challenged it regardless of who may or may not benefit from the outcome of the judgement. Today, we are vindicated as the lower tribunal and Appeal Court have established beyond reasonable doubt that Accord Party was unlawfully excluded from the election.”