Court strikes out suit challenging Ihedioha as PDP candidate

The Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State, has upheld judgment of the Federal High Court which dismissed a suit by Senator Sam Anyanwu, challenging the emergence of Governor Emeka Ihedioha as governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 9 election.

Anyanwu approached the court to nullify Ihedioha’s victory, and declare him authentic winner of the primaries. He also accused Ihedioha of engaging in over-voting and thuggery, which he claimed swayed the polls in his favour.

But Justice Raphael Agbo reaffirmed that the plaintiff did not convince the court on the prayers he sought. According to him, the court could not establish the fact in Anyanwu’s claims and allegations, and therefore dismissed the suit for lack of proof.

Ihedioha polled 1,723 votes to defeat Anyawu who scored 1,282 votes in the October 1 primaries.

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Speaker of the House of Assembly Chiji Collins has promised that the House will help Ihedioha succeed on his campaign promise to rebuild the state.

Chiji spoke in Anara, Isiala Mbano Local Government Area at a ceremony to honour his becoming Speaker.

He promised that the executive and legislature would enjoy a harmonious working relationship which would ensure that the dividends of democracy get to the grassroots.

He said: “The masses would suffer in any democracy where there is rancour between the executive and legislature. The seamless relationship between the executive and legislature would not undermine the independence of any of the arms.

“My colleagues and I would assist to rebuild Imo under Governor Emeka Ihedioha. With what is at stake today, there is no need for rancour between the executive and legislature. We are in the House of Assembly to support and encourage our governor to succeed.

“We can’t afford to fail Imo people. The expectations from them are high. Luckily for us, we have a governor and deputy who have sound legislative experiences. That makes our work easy.”