. Orders PDP, INEC to publish Nwoko’s name as senator-elect
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked senator representing Delta North in the upper chamber, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi as senator-elect in the last election, declaring that from the evidence available, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) primary election for Delta North, Ned Nwoko is the authentic candidate.
The court, therefore, declared Nwoko as the authentic candidate of the party for the 2019 senatorial election.
The presiding Judge, Honourable Justice A.R. Mohammed after a two hours section delivered the judgment in
Mohammed also ordered PDP and the INEC to immediately publish the name of Prince Ned Nwoko as the authentic candidate of PDP for validly scoring the majority of votes cast in the PDP primary election for Delta North senatorial district.
Making further pronouncements, Mohammed equally ordered Peter Nwaoboshi to stop parading himself as the senator-elect for Delta North senatorial district forthwith.
Dissecting all the matters in contention, Mohammed had averred that the onus lied on PDP as the 2nd Defendant and Peter Nwaoboshi as the 3rd Defendant to prove that Nwaoboshi actually won the primary election by producing the primary election materials; but instead refused to respect court orders for the production of the ballot papers.
He noted that all evidence as provided by the Plaintiff has proved that Nwoko won the primary election as conducted by the PDP on the 2nd of October, 2019; while also maintaining that constitutional provisions were followed in filing a substantive suit against the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants in the case.
Speaking to newsmen immediately after the judgement, the lead counsel to the Plaintiff (Nwoko), Barr. Onyeka Nwaokolo said that this was a landmark judgment.
He stressed that the summary of the matter was to inform people that manipulations of electoral processes was no longer in vogue, adding that such could always be quashed except not properly challenged.
The lawyer affirmed that the 2nd and 3rd defendants came to an open court and denied that the exhibits tendered were not the certified true copy of the ballot papers used in the primary election, even when they couldn’t produce any to authenticate their case.
According to the counsel, “There is hope for the common man in this judgement. It is a landmark judgement, which has further deepened our democratic beliefs”.
