Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has set aside the judgment of the Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified the election of Hon. Williams Amuka of the Labour Party as the member representing Igbo Etiti West in the state House of Assembly.
Ugwu Charles Chukwuebuka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had challenged the return of Amuka by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC at the Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal.
On September 30, the tribunal nullified the election of Hon. Amuka. However, the Labour Party candidate headed to the appellate court to challenge the ruling of the Tribunal.
In a unanimous judgment, the three-man panel of justices, presided over by Hon. Justice Bolaji Yusuf, found merit in the appeal of Amuka and upheld his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the eventual winner of the March 18 House of Assembly election.
Reacting to the judgment, one of the counsels to Hon Williams Amuka, Chibuzor Ezike Esq. thanked the Court of Appeal for doing substantial justice.
He said: “It was shocking and surprising that the tribunal after resolving all the three grounds of objection raised by the Hon. Amuka’s legal team and held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the petition by Ugwu Charles Chukwuebuka and PDP turned 180 degrees and relied on a document that was rejected, that was neither pleaded nor before the Court to disqualify our client.
“The decision of the Court of Appeal is commendable and it has brought to an end the long journey of litigation which commenced right from when Hon. Amuka won his primary election.”
