Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
The immediate past senator representing Anambra Central senatorial district, Chief Victor Umeh, has said for Nigeria to evolve, there must be strict adherence to rules governing the country.
This he said was the reason he was in the election tribunal challenging the declaration of his opponent in the last senatorial election, Senator Uche Ekwunife of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Umeh, who spoke with journalists after yesterday’s sitting, added that his victory, which he claimed was wrongly awarded to Ekwunife by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). would be retrieved.
He stressed that as an advocate of the rule of law and strict adherence to the rules governing the country, he would continue the fight to ensure that laws of the land were respected and obeyed by all.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the election disclosed that his petition before the tribunal was hinged on the facts that Ekwunife did not emerge from any party primaries.
As a result of this, she was not eligible to contest the election. He also claimed that there were incidents of over-voting in some polling units, while election did not take place in others.
He recalled that he went to the tribunal on the same issue in 2015, and got judgment at the Court of Appeal after the lower tribunal refused to agree with his argument.
“What I have always challenged in my life is disobedience to the laws and rules of this country.
“I have come to court to say Ekwunife did not emerge from any primary process. That means she was not eligible to take part in the election; she wasn’t a candidate. That was my last tribunal action in 2015 and the Court of Appeal upheld my plea.”
He said subsequent rulings on election matters tallied with the Appeallate decision, including the recent landmark Supreme Court judgment on Zamfara State 2019 Assembly and governorship.