BREAKING NEWS: Appeal Court Reinstates Ugochinyere as Reps Member

By Iyojo Ameh

Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, member representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, who was previously ousted by a Tribunal ruling, has been reinstated by the Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State.

The Appeal Court, in a landmark judgment, overturned the Tribunal’s decision and confirmed Mr. Ugochinyere as the rightful member of the House of Representatives.

Recall that in September, the election Tribunal, sitting in Mararaba High Court, declared that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had no candidate for the election, citing the absence of primary elections in the Federal Constituency.

This ruling led to further complications, as the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct rerun elections in four wards, pitting candidates from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) against each other.

However, the recent unanimous judgment delivered by the Appeal Court, presided over by Justice Abubakar Babandi Gumel, has overturned the Tribunal’s decisions.

The court ruled that the original petition was a pre-election matter and, as such, outside the jurisdiction of Tribunals, thereby restoring Mr. Ugochinyere’s position as the representative member.