The State and National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital has upheld the election of Lewis Obianyi for Ukwa East constituency in the state House of Assembly.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Obianyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18, 2023 election over Ekeke Adiele of the Labour Party and others.
But the petition was filed by Okeke Adiele as the Labour Party candidate instead of Ekeke Adiele before the 3-member tribunal which is chaired by Justice A. A. Aderibigbe.
In a unanimous judgement delivered, yesterday, by Aderibigbe, the tribunal held that Okeke Adiele failed to prove his allegation of non-compliance with the Electoral Act during the election.
Dismissing the petition for lack of merit, the tribunal also held that the petitioner, Okeke Adiele was not the same person as Ekeke Adiele the Labour Party candidate.
Reacting to the judgement, while speaking to LEADERSHIP, the lead counsel for Obianyi, Chidozie Ogunji hailed the tribunal for ensuring that justice prevailed on the matter.
In his own response, the legislator said the mandate given to him freely through the ballot had been preserved and commended the tribunal for being fair in its judgement.
Obianyi, who reiterated his commitment to offer quality representation to the constituency and to participate in making useful laws for the good of the state, dedicated the victory to God.
However, efforts to obtain the response of Ekeke Adiele, who had served as a commissioner in the State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, proved abortive at press time.
