Emeka Mamah Of APGA Drags Denis Agbo Of PDP to Appeal court

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the ‎2015 House of Representatives election representing  Igboeze North/Udenu constituency of Enugu State, Prince Emeka  Mamah, has appealed against the decision of the petition tribunal which upheld the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Hon. Dennis Agbo.

‎The counsel to Mamah, Abel Ozioko, while speaking to journalists yesterday in Abuja, said the petition was filed to challenge the declaration made by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), citing unlawful votes in 27 out of 30 wards of the constituency.

Ozioko prayed the court to set aside the judgment of the‎ election petition tribunal delivered in EPT/ENU/NASS/HR/11/2015 on October 9 which upheld the victory of Agbo, arguing that the tribunal erred in law.

“Of course INEC declared as the winner of the election and return him to represent the constituency in the National Assembly, being aggrieved, the petitioners briefed us and we filed the petition.

“The main ground upon which we are challenging the petition is that there were unlawful votes. What I mean by unlawful votes are votes that are gathered ‎not by due process of law. There are step-by-step procedure prescribed for the casting of votes in any election, if you breached that procedure, no matter how well conducted the election is, it is bound to be nullified,” Ozioko said.

The counsel to the petitioner further explained that the due process was not followed in the election with exception of three wards in the constituency where due process was followed, stressing that the petitioner is contesting the rest of the election which  was why the petition was filed.

Despite losing at the tribunal, Ozioko expressed absolute confidence in the judiciary to rewrite the perceived wrong.

He noted: “Especially in recent times, the judiciary has been doing enough.

“ It has been playing a leading role in this new democratic dispensation in Nigeria, starting with the case of Amechi and INEC and all through this time, there are innovations that INEC brought in the 2015 elections.”

“I have confidence in the judiciary. The fact that the case was lost at the tribunal does not erode the confidence I have in the judiciary. There is a structure, and the appellate court is there because there could be a miscarriage of justice,” Ozioko added