Tribunal affirms election of Dibiagwu Okechukwu, Imo APC reps member

The Imo national and state houses of assembly election petitions tribunal has affirmed Dibiagwu Okechukwu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru west federal constituency election.

The three-member tribunal led by Yusuf Halilu held that  Okechukwu was duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast during the election.

Ilo Ezenwa-Collins, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the February election, had filed a petition to challenge Okechukwu’s victory.

He had asked the court to annul the election over an alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

He also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating and inflating the votes in favour of Okechukwu.

However, giving the ruling on Thursday, the judges unanimously agreed that the petitioner failed to prove the allegations of irregularities and substantial non-compliance with electoral laws.

According to the tribunal, the witnesses called by the petitioner did not prove the allegations contained in the petition.

The judges further held that contrary to the petitioner’s claim, INEC did not make unlawful entries, mutilations or inscriptions on Forms EC8A (11) nor did the electoral body inflate the votes scored by Okechukwu.

Consequently, the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking merit.