Posted by On Saturday, the Court of Appeal in Lagos State affirmed Cyriacus Sunday Umeha’s election to represent the Ezeagu/Udi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
The ruling of the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Enugu, which had nullified Umeha’s victory, was reversed by the court.
The trial tribunal’s ruling was overturned by the appellate court’s three-person justice panel because the trial court made a legal error in concluding that Umeha had not resigned his membership in the PDP, his former political party.
The court ruled that questions about candidates’ nomination and sponsorship were pre-election problems.
As previously reported by TWISCLOADED on February 25, Festus Uzor of the PDP was deemed the winner of the election by a panel chaired by Justice A.M. Abubakar.
The Labour Party and its candidate appealed the tribunal’s verdict to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the ruling was incorrect.
While Umeha did formally resign from PDP before running for election on the Labour Party ticket, the appeals court ruled that he did so improperly.
Festus Uzor’s trial petition was found to be without merit and dismissed.