The supreme court has affirmed David Umahi, Ebonyi state governor, as the validly elected candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Ebonyi south senatorial district.
A five-man panel of the supreme court led by Justice M.O Kekere-Ekun, on Friday, December 9, dismissed the appeal of Princess Ann Agom-Eze who claimed that she is the party’s authentic candidate for the zone.
Agom-Eze, who emerged second in the party’s senatorial primary, had challenged Umahi’s emergence as the APC candidate for the senatorial district.
Recall that the court of appeal sitting in Abuja on September 30, affirmed Umahi as the senatorial candidate of APC for Ebonyi south.
The governor had contested the APC presidential primary in Abuja but lost to Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state.
However, after Umahi’s defeat at the presidential primary, his younger brother willfully returned his ticket to the governor.
A federal high court in Abakaliki, on July 22, dismissed a suit filed by Umahi, asking the court to recognize him as the APC candidate for the senatorial district.
The court subsequently ordered that a fresh primary election be conducted within 14 days.
The APC conducted a fresh primary election on July 31, and Umahi was declared the winner, The Whistler reports.
The appeal court, while delivering the judgment, held that the high court was wrong when it upheld Agom-Eze’s counter-affidavit.
The appellate further held that the trial court erred when it failed to uphold the primary election of June 9 where Umahi was nominated as the APC senatorial candidate.
The court averred that the nomination was never challenged by anybody within 14 days as stipulated by section 285(9) of the 1999 constitution.
The apex court, during its ruling on Friday, agreed with the decision of the appellate court.
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