By SUNDAY EJIKE, Abuja

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as the winner of the December 5, 2020 bye-election for the Imo North Senatorial District of Imo State.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo held in a judgment that Araraume remains the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as at today and should be declared winner of that election.

The judge also ordered the electoral body to issue Certificate of Return to Senator Araraume within 72 hours from the delivery of the judgment.

Earlier, the judge dimissed the preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain Araraume’s suit filed by the APC and Chukwuma Francis Ibezim.

Araraume had, through his counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), told Justice Taiwo Taiwo to invoke the judgments of a Federal High Court and that of Appeal Court to disqualify Ibezim and declare him as the rightful candidate for APC.

Raji said that the judgments of the high court and later the Court of Appeal have conclusively disqualified Ibezim and thus, he cannot claim to be an aspirant or candidate in the Imo North Senatatorial election.

n opposing Araraume’s suit, APC had told court that it never fielded Araraume for the last December senatorial bye-election for Imo North Senatatorial district.

The party had insisted that Araraume lacked locus standi to lay claim to the candidacy and urged the court to dismiss his suit.

Araraume had dragged INEC, APC and Ibezim before the Federal High Court praying for an order to compel the electoral body to recognise him as the APC senatorial candidate in the election won by the party

He claimed that Ibezim, having been disqualified by a Federal High Court on account of supplying false information to INEC to secure clearance and same disquaification having been upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, had knocked off Ibezim from laying any claim to the outcome of the bye-election.

But the APC, through its counsel, Osho Daudu, asked the court to discontenance Araraume’s claims, insisting that his name was never forwarded to INEC but that of Chukwuma Francis Ibezim.

The counsel submitted that a Federal High Court judgment delivered in Owerri, Imo State, which erroneously conferred locus on Araraume had been voided by Supreme Court and cannot confer any advantage on the plaintiff.

.Emma Osayomi, representing Ibezim, in his own submissions, said that his client had approached the Supreme Court to challenge his disqualification on account of variation in his name.

The counsel argued that as of the election day, the name of his client was on the INEC list and not that of Araraume and urged the court to dismiss Araraume’s claims and hold that Chukwuemeka Francis Ibezim remains the APC candidate. (Nigerian Tribune)

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