Anambra senatorial tussle: Court orders Saraki to swear-in Okonkwo as PDP candidate

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the immediate swearing-in of Dr. Obiora Okonkwo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District.

Justice John Tsoho gave the order in a judgment delivered yesterday. He also ordered the Senate President to immediately inaugurate Dr Oknokwo to fill the vacant Anambra central Senatorial seat that have been vacant since 2015.

Delivering the judgment in a suit filed against the PDP and three others, the judge held that the plaintiff was validly nominated by the PDP in its primary election of December 2014 for the Senatorial district.

Consequently, Justice Tsoho, ordered that the Certificate of Return earlier issued to Uche Ekwunife who has decamped from the PDP be withdrawn and that a fresh one be issued to the plaintiff by the Independent National Electoral Commission Nyesom Wike, a budding nationalist at 50 — Okowa (INEC).

It would be recalled that Okonkwo had instituted a court action against the PDP, its former National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, INEC and Chief Mrs Uche Ekwunife, challenging the emergence of Ekwunife as PDP candidate for the 2015 National Assembly election. However in the course of trial, all the four defendants withdrew their processes against the case and agreed to submit themselves to the judgment of the court.

The judge in his judgment agreed with the submission of the plaintiff’s counsel, that in view of the withdrawal of all defendants, the court was at liberty to enter judgment in favour of the plaintiff.

Justice Tsoho said with the withdrawal of the defendants and their consent to abide by his judgment, the plaintiff has emerged as the lawful candidate of PDP in the March 28, 2015 National Assembly Election for Anambra Central Senatorial District.

Obiora OkonkwoCounsel to the plaintiff, Sebastine Hon, in a briefing with journalists shortly after the judgment, said the judiciary has once again proven to be the hope of the ordinary Nigerians. While commending the defendants for their maturity in the matter, he lamented that the people of the affected senatorial district have been without representative since 2015 when the Court of Appeal, Enugu nullified her election.

He noted that the judgment has however restored hope for the people. Only few weeks back, the court of appeal, Abuja, in its judgment delivered on the Anambra Central Senatorial Tussle ordered INEC to conduct a rerun election within 90 days to fill the vacant Anambra Central Senatorial position in the National Assembly.

The court in the judgment however ordered the exclusion of the PDP and its candidate from participating in the said rerun. Following the Appeal Court’s decision INEC announced January 13 for the election, while the PDP has appealed to the Supreme Court challenging it’s exclusion from the rerun