It was a twist of fate for an Abia lawmaker who was on Thursday sent packing by a Federal High Court in Umuahia for emerging through a fake party primary.

Justice Daniel Osiagor, in his ruling on a pre-election matter brought before him, held that Hon. Kelechi Onuzuruike, representing Umuahia North State Constituency (Ohuhu), should vacate his seat for his rival, Sunday Ajaero, who was the validly elected candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the April 28, 2015 Abia State House of Assembly election.

Justice Osiagor held that Mr. Ajaero was the authentic candidate of APGA for the Umuahia North State Constituency for the House of Assembly contest and, therefore, ordered the incumbent lawmaker to vacate his seat.

But the lawmaker says he would appeal the judgement, which he said came to him as a surprise.

Ajaero and Onuzuruike had emerged through parallel party primaries but APGA fielded Onuzuruike for the Abia House of Assembly election. Ajaero kicked and challenged the decision of his party, contending that Onuzuruike was not the rightful candidate of the party and should not have been fielded for the election.

The plaintiff had argued that he was the authentic candidate that emerged through the authentic party primary but his name was later substituted at the last minute and replaced with the defendant. However, the pre-election matter was not resolved before the State Assembly election which the APGA candidate won and was subsequently inaugurated alongside others in the Sixth Abia Assembly.

Justice Osiagor, after considering all the issues involved and the documents tendered by both parties, ruled that the primary election which produced Onuzuriike was not valid since it was not conducted within the Umuahia North State Constituency.

While the said congress which produced Onuzuruike was held at 61 Uwalaka Stree, the Umuahia North party secretariat, the primary that produced Ajaero was conducted at Nkwoegwu, the heart of Ohuhu land.

The judge also held that the document tendered by the plaintiff contained the names of the authentic of delegates for the primary election and awarded N8 million cost against the lawmaker and APGA, which together with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were the other defendants.

Speaking with journalists after the judgment counsel to the plaintiff, Smart Apu, said that he was happy that the court has finally confirmed Ajaero as the rightful candidate, adding that the judgment has gone a long way to show that falsehood don’t last long.

But counsel to the first defendant, Mr. Uwandu Onyenakom, expressed surprise at the judgment, saying that the party approved the venue for the primary and it was the same local government secretariat of that the primary for Umuahia Central and East state constituencies were held. He said that his client has asked him to appeal the judgment.

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