Enugu tribunal sacks PDP Rep, declares LP candidate winner

The House of Representatives Election Petition Tribunal, on Wednesday, nullified the election of the member representing Igbo Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency in Enugu State, Simon Atigwe.

The tribunal declared Dennis Agbo of the Labour Party as the rightful winner of the constituency’s rerun election.

This verdict follows a rerun election held on February 3, 2024, during which the Independent National Electoral Commission had initially declared Atigwe, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the winner. INEC’s results indicated that Atigwe secured 23,863 votes, narrowly defeating Agbo, who garnered 23,226 votes.

Agbo, who had originally won the February 25, 2023, election but was later unseated by the appellate court, proceeded to challenge Atigwe’s victory in the rerun election.

His legal team argued that the election was compromised due to errors in result computation and significant non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

In its ruling on Wednesday, August 14, the tribunal, led by Justice H. N. Kunaza, upheld Agbo’s petition, declaring it meritorious.

The panel found that 2,000 votes had been improperly added to Atigwe’s total, rendering the election results invalid.

Justice Kunaza’s panel reinstated the original votes from the February 25, 2023, election, showing 14,229 votes for the PDP and 28,870 votes for the Labour Party’s Agbo.

The tribunal concluded that Agbo was the legitimate winner with 23,221 votes, while the PDP candidate trailed with 21,863 votes.

The tribunal ordered that the certificate of return issued to Atigwe be revoked and immediately reissued to Agbo.