The Governorship/House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu on Monday affirmed the declaration and return of Hon. Osita Eze of the Labour Party as member representing Oji River State Constituency in the hallowed chamber.
Daily Gazette recall that the election was initially declared inconclusive after the March 18 poll because one polling unit was cancelled as a result of over voting.
Hon. Osita EzeÂ
Later, rerun election was held in that polling unit; Central school Oji-River which had 2,489 registered voters.
Labour Party’s candidate, Chief Osita Eze, won the supplementary election with 108 votes and with over 300 votes outstanding (during the March 18 election) ahead of other contestants.
Eze was declared winner of the election by INEC after he defeated his closest rival, Mr. Jeff Mba of the Peoples Democratic party, PDP.
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Mbah who was not satisfied with the outcome of the polls went to court challenging the victory of the lawmaker on the ground that he was not elected by majority of lawful votes cast.
He also alleged that the election was marred by violence, gross irregularities and voter suppression.
PDP and her candidate, Jeff Mbah, prayed the tribunal to void the return made by INEC and grant the reliefs sought in their petition by declaring him the rightful winner of the election.
Delivering her judgment on Monday, the three man honourable justices in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the petition for being vague, frivolous, lacking in merit, nebulous and academic exercise.
The tribunal noted that the petitioners were not able to prove the allegations contained in their petition beyond reasonable doubt, coupled with the fact that the witnesses and exhibits presented were not tangible enough to contradict the electoral body’s decision.
In an interview with Daily Gazette shortly after the judgment, Hon. Osita Eze who could not hide his joy over the outcome, thanked the judges for standing by the truth and assured the people of Oji River State Constituency of a robust, quality and accountable representation.
