The hope of Dr Chimaroke Nnamani coming back to the 9th Senate in 2019 to represent Enugu East may fritter away if the suit brought by Prof Agu Gab Agu before the Federal High Court Enugu succeeds. The Professor of Law had approached the court seeking among others, an injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC from regarding or continuing to regard Dr Nnamani as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for the forthcoming Enugu East senatorial election.
He wants a declaration of the court that he won the majority of the votes cast during the election and should be accorded the rights, privileges and perquisites that attach to a candidate of the PDP in the said election including to campaign in the 2019 general election.
In an originating summons No FHC/EN/CS/141/2018 dated 29th November, 2018, Prof Gab Agu who contested along with Dr Chimaroke Nnamani and five others is claiming that contrary to the submissions of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in which Dr Nnamani was declared the winner of the party primary held October 3rd, 2018, he, Prof Agu secured the majority of the votes cast.
In the Summons taken out by his Counsel, Chuma Oguejiofor Esq, Prof Agu claimed that he “garnered a total of 601 votes in the election to the 108 votes of the 1st defendant(Dr Nnamani), the Plaintiff thus secured majority of the votes cast in the said primary election, his name ought rightfully to be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC which is the third Defendant in the suit by the 2nd Defendant, (PDP), as its candidate in the 2019 election”.
The Peoples Democratic Party was accused to have declared a false result in which ‘the 1st Defendant was credited with the Plaintiff’s 601 votes and the Plantiff allotted a misery 8 votes” knowing fully well that the result declared was not worth the parchment on which it was written. The Plaintiff furthered claimed that he “had won the election through and through but rather dis-ingeniously, some fellows in the party had taken away” his votes and “awarded to the 1st Defendant”.
He further averred that he was present when the votes were sorted, counted and announced by the party during which he was announced as the winner of the primary only for the “selfsame 2nd Defendant to turn around and declare the 1st Defendant winner of the same election”.
Prof. Agu in his summons urged the Court to order for a recount of the votes/ballot papers used for the election which were less than a thousand. The recount, he contended, would clearly show which aspirant had what number of votes in the primary election pointing out that by that way it would “most certainly come out that the plaintiff had won majority of the votes cast” and his name ought to have been forwarded to INEC.
A copy of the senatorial primary result sheet obtained by Drumnewsonline.com showed that Dr Nnamani polled 601 votes; Chinedu Nneji 88; Nkwor Ngene 74; Senator Gilbert Nnaji 69; Lawrence Ezeh 25; Prof. Gab Agu 8 and Joshua Mba 4 votes.
The emergence of Dr Nnamani as the candidate of PDP in the forthcoming Enugu East senatorial elections had been generating controversies in political circles. Some of the critics contend that he did not participate in the processes leading to the primary election. According to them, the nomination form was obtained and submitted through a proxy and he was completely absent during the election proper. Even some sympathizers of PDP were not happy with the development. This suit by Prof Agu could be a pointer to the fact.
It would be recalled that some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, Chief Ken Nnamani, former Senate President and Chief Jim Nwobodo, former governor of the old Anambra State, had issued a statement condemning the emergence of Dr Nnamani as the PDP candidate for Enugu East. They described it as arrant imposition and against the grain of the Electoral Act. They wondered how somebody who was not physically present in the country at the time of the party primaries, could have been nominated and won the party primary election.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit and Drumnewsonline gathered that the former governor was still holed in a foreign land and it was not clear when he would come back to embark on his electoral campaign. However, his campaign jingles still rule the airwaves in Enugu State.
Source: Drumnewsonline.com
