Court Of Appeal Sacks 3 Rivers Senators, 12 House Of Reps Members

It was a tsunami of sort for the Rivers State chapter of Peoples
Democratic Party on Friday as Abuja division of Court of Appeal in a
judgment delivered late into the night sacked two senators and seven
House of Representatives members elected on the platform of the party
in the 2015 general elections.

The Court had kicked off the series of judgments, 14 in all, including
some cross appeals on Friday afternoon with the sack of two senators –
Osinakachukwu Idoezu (Rivers South-West Senatorial District) and John
Olaka-Nwogo (Rivers South-East) based on petitions by their All
Progressives Congress, APC challengers in the election.

In the unanimous decision of the three man panel read by Justice Ali
Gumel, the Appellate Court voided the elections of the two senators
based on what the Justices described as failure of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to comply substantially with the
provisions of the Electoral Act and other guidelines for the March 28,
2015 National Assembly Election in the conduct of the polls.

Justice Gumel noted that key elements of the voting process like
accreditation of voters, use of card reader machines, voters' register
and other election guidelines in majority of the voting centres, were
not adhered to, an action which he said led to manipulations of the
process.

He therefore ruled that the elections were conducted without adherence
to set guidelines and therefore cannot stand in the face of the law.

The Judge particularly censored INEC for what it described as its
failure to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines it set out for
the election such as use of card reader.

In a series of abridged rulings for lack of time to read the full
judgments, the Justices also annulled the election of Boma Goodhead,
the member representing Asari Toru/Akuku Toru Federal Constituency,
Hon. Ken Chikere (PDP) Port Harcourt I Federal constituency election,
Randolf Brown for Bonny/Degema Federal Constituency, Dum Deekor of
Tai/Eleme/Oyigbo Federal Constituency, Betty Apiafi Ahoada East/Abua
Federal Constituency, Awaji Inombek Abiante of Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro
federal constituency and Dimnamene Deekor of Khana/Gokhana federal
constituency.

However, while the three Justices of the Court were unanimous in the
decision to annul the elections of six of the representatives, the
voiding of the election of Honourable Betty Apiafi was a split 2:1
decision, with Justice Nonyerem Okoronkwo reading a minority judgment
in which he disagreed with his two colleagues.

Contrary to the assertions of his colleagues in the majority judgment,
Justice Okoronkwo said the petitioner failed to prove his assertions
that Ahoada East/Abua federal constituency election was marred by
malpractices, violence and wrongful allocation of votes. He therefore
held that elections held in the constituency and Rep Apiafi was
properly elected.

The same court had earlier on Thursday nullified the election of
Blessng Nsiegbe of Port Harcourt federal constituency II, Kingsley
Chinda of Obio Akpor Federal Constituency, Boniface Emerangwa of
Ikwerre/ Emohua Federal Constituency, Bright Gogo Tamuno of
Okrika/Ogu/Bolo Federal Constituency, and Hon. Jerome Eke of
Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency.

With the sack of his 12 colleagues, Uche Nnam Obi of Ahoada
West//Egbeama/Ndoni Federal Constituency elected on the platform of
PDP is the only surviving representatives of Rivers State in the House
of Representatives. The court also ordered rerun elections to be
conducted into the now vacant senatorial and House of Representatives
seats with 60 days.