The Court of Appeal has declared Williams Amuka of the Labour Party (LP) winner of the March 18 Enugu State House of Assembly election after setting aside the judgment of the state election petition tribunal that nullified his election.
The unanimous judgment of the appellate court reportedly received wide jubilation in Igbo-Etiti West constituency.
A three-member panel of Justices of the Lagos division of the appellate court led by Justice Bolaji Yusuf, found merit in the appeal by Amuka and upheld his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the eventual winner of the March 18 house of assembly election.
Mr Chibuzor Ezike, one of the counsel to Amuka while reacting to the judgment, thanked the Court of Appeal for doing substantial justice.
Meanwhile, as news of the judgment hit town, there was spontaneous carnival-like celebration all over Igbo Etiti with motorcycle riders forming a convoy and riding all around the Local Government headquarters of Ogbede, blaring their horns just as market women were also reportedly seen singing and dancing in the market.
The Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal had, on September 30, nullified the election of Amuka of Labour Party, relying on a strange document the same tribunal ruled could not be tendered before the tribunal.
The said document, an affidavit of fact, was not pleaded, neither was it listed nor front-loaded by the petitioner.
But strangely, it was the said document that the Tribunal relied upon to nullify Amuka’s electoral mandate and also disqualified him from the election, even when it was not tendered before the Tribunal and was not supposed to be in the file of the Tribunal.
