Court of Appeal confirms Orji Kalu’s victory in election

The victory of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 elections for the Abia-North Senatorial Zone has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division. The court, led by Justice Abiri JCA, agreed with the National Assembly Petitions Tribunal, Umuahia, which had earlier dismissed the petitions of Mao Ohuabunwa of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Nnamdi Iro Orji of the Labour Party (LP) for lacking merit.

The court stated that the election of Kalu, a former Abia governor, complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act. The court also rejected the arguments of the petitioners that the election did not take place in over 120 polling units, mainly in Ohafia and Arochukwu Local Government Areas of the zone.

The court also dismissed the prayer of Iro Orji to disqualify Kalu for allegedly admitting before the Federal High Court that he was convicted of fraud. The court ruled that there was no valid conviction of Kalu under Section 66 of the Nigerian Constitution, as the conviction had been nullified by the Supreme Court.

The court also held that the appellants of both the PDP and LP failed to prove their allegations of elections not holding in some polling units. The court also upheld Kalu’s eligibility to contest the election, saying that his trial and conviction were quashed by the Supreme Court. The court dismissed three other grounds for the LP candidate in Kalu’s favour.

Kalu, a two-time lawmaker and the chairman of the Senate committee on privatisation and commercialization, was declared the winner by the INEC returning officer for Abia North, Mr. Chinedu Nnamdi, at Ohafia. Kalu scored 30,805 votes to defeat Nnamdi, who got 27,540 votes. Ohuabunwa of the PDP came in third with 15,175 votes.