The Supreme Court has upturned the election of Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo state, declaring Hope Uzodinma as winner of the March 9 election.
A seven man panel of the court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in a unanimous DECISION on Tuesday held that Ihedioha did not win majority of votes cast during the election.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ihedioha, who ran under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the election but Uzodinma and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenged the outcome of the election in court.
In the Judgment delivered by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the court accordingly ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Ihedioha and issue a fresh Certificate of Return to candidate of the APC in grounds that he won majority of lawful votes cast at the election.
The court held that the lower courts erred in law when it were rejected evidence tendered before them to the extent that votes from 388 polling units were not credited to the APC and Hope Uzodinma
