Appeal Court Sacks All 3 PDP Senators & 12 Rep Members In Rivers State

The riggers are being sent parking. It was a tsunami of sort for the PDP in Rivers State on Friday as Abuja division of the Court of Appeal in a judgment delivered late into the night sacked Two senators and Seven House of Reps members elected on the platform of the party in the 2015 general elections.

The Court had earlier 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 APC candidates.

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 INEC to comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act and other guidelines for 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.

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 Reps. 

The court ordered rerun elections into the now vacant senatorial and House of Reps seats with 60 days.