Appeal Court sacks senate minority whip, declares PDP’s Akobundu as Abia central lawmaker

The Court of Appeal, Lagos, has nullified the victory of the Labour Party candidate, Darlington Nwokocha’s victory in the February 25 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Nwokocha as the winner of the election held in Abia Central after he polled 92,116 votes to defeat his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Augustine Akobundu, who garnered 41, 477 votes in the exercise.

The LP candidate is the current minority whip in the Senate.

Akobundu, a former minister of state for defence, challenged the outcome of the election at the national and state assembly election petition tribunal, citing fraud and non-compliance with the electoral act in the conduct of the election by INEC.

The tribunal, however, dismissed the petition in September.

Dissatisfied with the verdict, the PDP candidate approached the appeal court to set it aside.

In its ruling on Saturday, the appellate court declared Akobundu as the duly elected Senator in Abia Central.

The PDP confirmed the development in a statement posted on its X platform, formerly Twitter, on Saturday evening.

The statement read: “The former National Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), @officialPDP Col. Austin Akobundu (Rtd), has just been declared by the Appeal Court as the rightful winner of Abia Central Senatorial District of Abia State.

“Senator Austin Akobundu, Abia Central and Senator Osita Ngwu, Enugu West, are the two senators of the PDP extraction from the South-East region at the National Assembly.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now