New twist in Anambra guber: Ekwunife asks court to declare her APGA candidate

FROM GEOFFREY ANYANWU, AWKA

There is a new twist in the controversial
Anambra State governorship election whose
outcome remains inconclusive and a
supplementary poll is planned for November
30. One of the aspirants for the ticket of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Hon.
Uche Ekwunife is asking that the court
declare her the authentic candidate of the
party.
Ekwunife is the runner- up to Mr. Willie
Obiano at the APGA governorship primary,
having scored the second highest votes.
In a suit filed at the Federal High Court,
Awka, Anambra State capital, Hon Ekwunife,
a member of the House of Representatives,
prayed the court to declare her as the
rightful candidate for APGA in the
November 16, 2013 governorship election. In
her suit which has Mr. Willy Obiano, the
Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) and APGA, as the first, second and
third defendants respectively, Ekwunife is
urging the court to disqualify Obiano as the
candidate of APGA, by virtue of his alleged
multiple registration in Lagos and Anambra
states.
In the originating summons filed by her
counsel, Chief Ugo Ugwunnadi, she argued:
"By virtue of the multiple registration, which
is a serious electoral offence and by the
combined effect of Sections 9 (1), (2), (3), 2,
3, 12 (1), (2) and 24 (1)(e) of the 2010
Electoral Act of Nigeria, as amended, and
Section 178 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended,
Mr. Obiano is not a registered voter
qualified to vote and be voted for in
Anambra State and therefore, he cannot
contest an election in a state, where he is not
a legally and validly registered voter."
In her supporting affidavit to the originating
summons, the federal lawmaker alleged:
"Mr. Obiano was assigned with three
different VIN numbers, by virtue of the
multiple registration as follows – (1) 90F5
B12B 0129 6204 172, (2) 90F5 B15E 7D37
8200 332, and (3) 90F5 B12B 8837 7091 121
respectively, annexed as Exhibits UE2, UE3
and UE4. All these appeared in three
different Voters' Register."
Consequent upon this, Ekwunife is also
asking the court for an order directing APGA
to substitute the name of Obiano with hers
and for INEC to deal with her as the rightful
candidate of APGA and moreso, for the fact
that elections were contested, lost and won
by political parties and not individuals.