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Sunday Ejike – Abuja
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, sacked the deputy governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Benue, Chief Idu Christopher Onyiloyi.
The trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgement in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1853/2022, with LP, INEC and Onyiloyi as 1st to 3rd defendants, sacked Onyiloyi, who was billed to participate in the March 11, 2023 governorship election.
In his place, Justice Ekwo restored Dr Ochechi Godwin Adejoh as the new deputy governorship candidate of the party.
Justice Ekwo, in his judgement in the suit filed by Adejoh, held that Onyiloyi, having voluntarily withdrawn as deputy governorship candidate and deposed to an affidavit to that effect, ceased in law to hold the same status.
The Judge found as facts that Onyiloyi personally wrote the Labour Party on the withdrawal of his candidacy and gave the withdrawal legal backing with a court affidavit as evidence of withdrawal.
The Judge invoked Sections 221, 222 of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 29, 31, 32, 33 and 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 and declared that Labour Party is under obligation to remove Onyiloyi and replace him with Adejoh, upon his voluntary withdrawal.
Justice Ekwo ordered the Labour Party to immediately forward the name of Dr Ochechi Godwin Adejoh, the plaintiff, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for publication as the lawful deputy governorship candidate of the party.
The Court issued an order compelling INEC to publish the name of the plaintiff and another order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from accepting any name other than that of the plaintiff as the deputy governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Benue.
Justice Ekwo also issued another order stopping Onyiloyi from further parading himself as the Labour Party’s deputy governorship candidate in Benue state and the Party was restrained from according any recognition to Onyiloyi as its deputy governorship candidate.
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