Enugu Tribunal strikes out Ex-governor Nnamani’s petition

BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu has struck out the suit filed by Chimaroke Nnamani, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the victory of Senator Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour Party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Chukwu as the winner of the Enugu East Senatorial district poll after he secured over 69,000 votes to defeat former governor of Enugu state, Nnamani who got about 49,000 votes.

However, Nnamani had alleged that the election was marred by over-voting, irregularities, election malpractices and non-compliance with the electoral guidelines.

The founder of the Ebeano political family also urged the court to declare him the rightful winner of the election or declare as invalid the results of the polls.

Delivering its ruling on Wednesday, the tribunal upheld Senator Kelvin Chukwu’s victory.

The tribunal also awarded a cost of N500,000 against the petitioners in favour of the three respondents, Kelvin Chukwu, Labour Party and INEC.

The three-man panel led by Justice Nusirat I. Umar unanimously dismissed the petition for being vague, lacking in merit, incompetent, generic and academic exercise.

Editor

Jude Ossai (JP) a veteran journalist is a National Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. He also studied at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri for his first and second degrees in Mass Communication, respectively. He writes extensively on politics, crime, corruption, climate change, healthcare, human rights, social justice, among others.