By Ken Afor
The Supreme Court, Tuesday, rejected the application filed by Emeka Ihedioha, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be issued a certificate of return as the democratically elected governor of Imo State in the 2019 election.
The court affirmed the judgment which recognised the election of Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as duly elected governor of the state.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who delivered the judgment on behalf of the seven-member panel of judges stated that Ihedioha’s request had no validity and was fruitless and causing unnecessary annoyance.
The Supreme Court ordered Mike Ozekhome, the lawyer of Ihedioha, to pay a cost of N40 million for presenting the appeal to the court.
The PDP had urged the Supreme Court to hold that “both the Action Alliance (AA) and APC did not sponsor and/or field any candidate for the governorship election held in Imo State on March 9, 2019, in view of the double nomination of the appellant/respondent by the two political parties aforesaid and his subsequent disqualification as their gubernatorial candidate, as found by this honourable court in its judgement.”
The party argued that because Governor Uzodinma had not contested the election as an independent candidate, there was no lawful grounds for him to be acknowledged as the rightful elected governor of Imo State.
The applicants both the PDP and AA, argued that the election held in the state on November 11 had no foundation as Ihedioha had not finished his tenure.
Mr. Uche Nwosu, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), applied to the apex court for an appeal in relation to the 2019 election.
The PDP and their own candidate Ihedioha, who had won the said election, then requested to be added to the proceedings as interested parties.
