Barr. Ikenga Ugochinyere and Hon. Jonas Okeke, who represent the Ideato North/South and Okigwe South federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, respectively, have had their elections declared invalid by the Imo State National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which is located in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
The opposition party said in a statement released on Wednesday by its Acting State Publicity Secretary, Mazi Emenike Nmeregini, that the two MPs won their seats in the National Assembly on February 25 by a wide margin.
The PDP also referred to the judgements as a defeat and vowed to have the Court of Appeal overturn them.
“The Imo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party received the news of the annulment of the elections of Rt Hon. Barr. Ikenga lmo Ugochinyere lkeagwuonu (representing Ideato North and South), and Rt Hon Jonas Okeke (Okigwe South), respectively, by the Imo State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Mararaba, Nasarawa state with deep reservations and reprehension,” the statement read. The Tribunal’s decision in these cases is unfortunate and strongly condemned.
“The two proactive Lawmakers, who are elected to the House of Representatives to represent their separate seats in the state, won handily in the 2023 National Assembly election on February 25.
“As a responsible and responsive political party, the Tribunal’s decision smacks of a great surprise, given the weight of compelling facts and numbers that were presented before the Tribunal to support the election results. The final judgements of the Learned Justices will undoubtedly leave the electorate in the constituencies with a bad taste in their mouths.
It is regrettable that the Honourable Tribunal based its decisions on pre-election issues that had previously been rejected by courts with appropriate jurisdiction without taking into account hindsight.
This is also disregard for the fact that the issue is solely related to internal party politics and, as such, may only be brought up by PDP members and not by members of other parties. The decisions appear to be obscured by bare-faced illusion and mystery, for all intents and purposes.
The Peoples Democratic Party chapter in the state of Missouri rejects these absurd acts of crudity in their entirety and sees the individual rulings as a defeat for our country’s judicial system. The party shall unequivocally oppose this Tribunal’s stance until it overturns this decision, which will continue to plague our legal jurisprudence.
“We respect and have complete faith in the court, and we anticipate that it will take the necessary steps to restore the nation’s temple of justice’s apparent declining reputation.
“Our party calls on our irate electorate in the ldeato North/South and Okigwe South Federal Constituencies to maintain their composure as we expect that justice will take its usual course in the respective cases very soon,” the statement reads. “While expecting the Appeal court to do the needful in no distance time.”
