The Election Petitions
Tribunal sitting in Awka, has upheld the election of Senator Andy Uba representing Anambra South senatorial zone.
Also, the petition filed by the son of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Ojukwu Jr. of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, was dismissed for lack of merit by the second tribunal also sitting in Awka.
The senatorial candidate of APGA for Anambra South, Chief Ernest Ndukwe, had dragged Uba of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the tribunal, claiming that the figures used by INEC declare Uba winner did not emanate from the polling units in all the seven local government areas in the zone.
But Justice Nayai Aganaba, chairman of the tribunal, who read the judgment, said the petitioner failed to prove the alleged irregularities in some areas, including Uli Ward 1 and Lilu ward where he (the petitioner) claimed that agents of the PDP engaged in electoral malpractices.
According to the Judge, the petitioner merely dumped documents before the tribunal and failed to invite relevant witnesses to substantiate his claims.
“The Judge is an adjudicator and not an investigator”, he said, adding that the onus of proving irregularities lay on the petitioner, but he failed to do so. (Vanguard)
