Date Published: 08/20/11

Uzodimma wins again

The National Assembly Election Petitions tribunal sitting in Owerri, Imo State has affirmed the election of Senator Hope Uzodimma as the senator representing Imo West Senatorial District (Orlu Zone) at the National Assembly.

Ruling yesterday (August 19,2011)  on a petition brought against Uzodimma by the former governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa of the Action Congress (AC) in the last National Assembly election, challenging the election of Uzodimma, the tribunal led by Justice Essang unanimously ruled that Udenwa’s petition lacked merit and should be struck  out.

Specifically, the three-member tribunal ruled as follows:
•       That the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the petition was not signed
•       That most of the issues canvassed by the petitioner were pre-election issues which the tribunal  lacked jurisdiction
•       That the non-joinder of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  and other persons mentioned in the body  of  petition  had no relevance to the case which must be struck out and
•       That the issue of the qualification of Senator Uzodimma for the election had already been settled by the Supreme Court in the case between Hope Uzodimma Vs Osita Izunaso which it is trite law that any matter settled by the apex court was final and could not be adjudicated upon in any court of law.
Consequently, the tribunal threw out the petition and affirmed Uzodimma winner of the election.

It would be recalled that 13 candidates from the different political parties contested the Imo West (Orlu Zone) Senatorial Election on April 9, 2011 and   (Uzodimma)  who was listed Number 11 on the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Candidates’ list by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) emerged  winner having scored 85,042 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome however, the AC candidate-Achike Udenwa went to the tribunal to challenge Uzodimma’s election which the Tribunal has finally settled.

Reacting to the Tribunal’s ruling, Senator Hope Uzodimma said it was the will of God and the wish of the people who massively   voted for him at the election.

According to him, all through the hearing of the petition, he remained unperturbed as he believed he was duly elected in accordance with the guidelines and that he had absolute faith in God and the integrity of the Tribunal members.

He urged his opponent to close rank and  join him by offering  useful suggestions to him that would bring development to the people of Orlu  and the zone in general.

Similarly, an aide to the Senator, Mazi Chinasa Nwaneri has hailed the verdict of the Tribunal, attributing it to the hand of God and the wish of the People or Orlu Senatorial District.