The Court of Appeal in Benin yesterday nullified the election of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as the governor of Delta State. In its judgment in an appeal by Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party, the appellate court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh governorship election in the state within 90 days. It also ordered the Speaker of the state house of assembly, Mr Sam Obi, to act as the governor, pending the conduct of the fresh election.
The governorship poll is likely to be the first major test of the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC. In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Monica Murktar, the court said, “After looking at the submissions of counsel to both parties and the submission by INEC counsel, it was obvious that the election was characterised by a lot of irregularities. “There were a lot of election malpractices by the umpire in favour of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party which placed undue advantage on him and his party to the detriment of other contestants in the election.”
The Court of Appeal in Benin on Tuesday nullified the election of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as the governor of Delta State. In its judgment in an appeal by Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party, the appellate court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh governorship election in the state within 90 days. It also ordered the Speaker of the state house of assembly, Mr Sam Obi, to act as the governor, pending the conduct of the fresh election. The governorship poll is likely to be the first major test of the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC. In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Monica Murktar, the court said, “After looking at the submissions of counsel to both parties and the submission by INEC counsel, it was obvious that the election was characterised by a lot of irregularities. “There were a lot of election malpractices by the umpire in favour of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party which placed undue advantage on him and his party to the detriment of other contestants in the election.”
Source:Punch Newspaper