The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Enugu state has dismissed a petition filed by Chimaroke Nnamani of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the victory of Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour Party (LP) in the March 18 Enugu East senatorial election.
The electoral umpire, INEC, declared candidate of LP winner after he pulled 69,136 votes as against Mr Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu state, who pulled 48,701.
Nnamani sought redress in court, alleging that Chukwu’s election was flawed with over voting and non compliance with the electoral act among others.
The former Governor who has held the seat since 2019, prayed the court to declare him as duly elected.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, the tribunal upheld the victory of Chukwu.
The three-member panel of judges headed by Justice Nusirat Umar held that the petition was “vague, lacking in merit, incompetent, generic and mere academic exercise”.
Nnamani did not only lose the case, but also bagged a fine to the tune of 500,000 naira.
The National leadership of the People’s Democratic Party had expelled Nnamani earlier this year on the grounds of “anti-party” activities.
