Tribunal Decides Fate Of PDP Lawmaker Allegedly Caught With 4000 PVCs During Election

The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu has upheld the election of Chukwuemeka Ujam, This Day reports.

Ujam contested the election to represent Nkanau East/West Federal Constituency on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was declared winner after supposedly polling more votes than Nnoli Nnaji of the People For Democratic Change (PDC).

The declaration hence, prompted the PDC candidate to seek redress at the Tribunal.

READ ALSO: Tribunal Sacks PDP Lawmaker, Orders Re-run

Nnaji challenged the election of Ujam on the grounds that he was wrongfully nominated by his party and that the exercise was marred by irregularities.

The tribunal however on Saturday, October 10, dismissed the petition brought by Nnaji.

Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Abba Bello Mohammed of the FCT High Court, who was a member of the three-man panel that heard the petition, dismissed the petition with N50, 000 awarded to each of the four respondents.

Mohammed said that several prayers were contained in the petition filed by Nnaji which were struck out during trial leaving only two for determination. These, he said, centred on whether Ujam was qualified to contest the election on the ground that he did not win in the PDP primaries which produced Princess Peace Nnaji as the party’s flag-bearer for Nkanu East and Nkanu West Federal Constituency.

The tribunal, however, agreed with the exhibits submitted by the petitioner which showed that Princess Nnaji scored 83 votes against 20 scored by the respondent (Ujam) but ruled that he (Nnaji) did not have the right to determine to a political party other than his who should fly its flag and how it should conduct its primaries.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tribunal Annuls Election of Senator Kashamu

On the issue of irregularities and recovery of voters’ cards during the election, the tribunal held that even if it would accept that such happened, it was not within its jurisdiction.

The Panel added that the petitioner did not prove whether the alleged incident affected the result, adding that he did not show whether the cards belonged to the constituents, and as such “you cannot build something on nothing.”

Mohammed noted that the tribunal could therefore not nullify the election as that would amount to interfering in political party affairs more so when the issue canvassed was a pre-election matter.

However, in a swift response to the verdict, counsel for the petitioner, Ike Aroh, told the lower tribunal that his client was not satisfied with the judgment and would therefore appeal it.

But one of Ujam’s counsels, Ikechukwu Onuma, however, described the judgment as sound and representative of the will of the people that voted for the lawmaker.

Naij.com recalls that Ujam was allegedly arrested by soldiers and other security agents on election duty at the Four Corner junction, Ozalla, Nkanu West local government areas of Enugu state, on the day of the Presidential and National Assembly polls, for carrying over 4,000 PVC’s.

Chukwuemeka Ujam allegedly caught with 4000pvcs

Despite electoral fraud allegations, he got his Certificate of Return.

Chukwuemeka Ujam of the PDP gets certificate of return

He was a former Commissioner for Lands in the immediate past administration of Sullivan Chime.

He was returned elected in the House of Reps election conducted on March 28, after he was declared winner of the March 28 election.

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