The National Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, Abia State, has rejected a petition brought by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Chinedum Orji, against Chief Obi Aguocha, the Labour Party representative for the Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously declared Aguocha the victor in the February 25, 2023, House of Representatives election, where he received 48,199 votes compared to Orji’s 35,196 votes.

Dissatisfied with the election outcome, Orji, a former speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly and the son of former governor Theodore Orji, approached the tribunal to challenge Aguocha’s victory.

Orji asked the court to nullify Aguocha’s win, asserting that Aguocha was not properly nominated as the LP candidate and was therefore ineligible to contest the election.

Orji claimed that Aguocha had contested the PDP primary election and lost before switching to the LP.

He argued that Aguocha’s name was not on the Labour Party’s register submitted to INEC, and there was no 30-day notice to INEC before the primary election that nominated him as the LP flagbearer.

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Orji also alleged overvoting in some polling units that favored Aguocha.

However, the tribunal, led by Justice Abubakar Kutigi, ruled that party membership disputes were pre-election matters, and the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to hear them, as they should have been resolved before the election.

The tribunal also determined that the petitioner failed to provide sufficient evidence that the respondent was not properly nominated by the LP, as the candidate’s eligibility was an internal party matter.

The allegation of overvoting was dismissed because it was not convincingly proven.

Following the judgement, the petitioner’s counsel, Mr. Obinna Nkume, stated that they would review the verdict and decide on their next course of action.

On the other hand, the respondent’s counsel, Mr. Friday Nwokeocha, praised the tribunal’s sound judgement and encouraged the petitioner to accept it in good faith, suggesting that they are still united and have a bright future ahead.