Rita Odafe
On Wednesday, the Enugu Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the House of Representatives tribunal, which resulted in the removal of Hon. Simon Atigwe from his position representing the Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency.
The court reinstated Hon. Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party, who had initially won the election on February 25, 2023, but was later removed after a re-run held on February 3, 2024.
Although Atigwe, the candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was sworn in as the 2024 election winner, Agbo challenged this in a second tribunal, and the Appeal Court upheld Agbo’s claims on Wednesday, resulting in Atigwe’s removal from the House of Representatives.
The ruling from the Appeal Court revealed that Atigwe was not rightfully elected based on valid votes in the re-run. It confirmed that Dennis Agbo from the Labour Party was the legitimate winner of the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) initially reported that Atigwe received 23,863 votes, while Agbo garnered 23,226 votes.
Agbo, who had previously won the February 25, 2023 election but faced disqualification, contested Atigwe’s subsequent declaration, claiming issues such as vote miscalculation and non-compliance with the electoral regulations.
In their judgment, the Tribunal, led by Justice H N Kunaza, found merit in Agbo’s petition and declared him the true winner of the Igbo Eze North/Udenu federal constituency.
The ruling invalidated the additional 2,000 votes that had been counted for the PDP candidate and reinstated the results from February 25, 2023, showing 14,229 votes for the PDP and 28,870 for Agbo.
The panel concluded that Atigwe was not duly elected based on the valid votes cast, confirming that Agbo’s total was 23,221 against 21,863 for the PDP, and ordered the withdrawal of Atigwe’s certificate of return, replacing it with one for Hon. Agbo.
