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NAN
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Tuesday struck out two motions filed by Senator Clement ‘Annie’ Okonkwo, seeking to stop the January 13 Anambra Central Senatorial District election.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Abubakar Yahaya said the court’s decision was as a result of the applicant’s withdrawal of his pending motions fixed for hearing.
The judge said the development had cleared all legal obstructions that could have created a hurdle in the conduct of the January 13 senatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“In view of the well thought-out move by the applicant to withdraw his motions against the conduct of the January 13 Anambra Senatorial election, the court now reserves the power to strike out the motions.
“The motions are hereby struck out and the matter has come to a close,’’ the judge said.
Okonkwo, an aggrieved aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for that election, had approached the appellate court with the motions against INEC to stop the election pending the determination of his main suit.
Okonkwo earlier filed motion for leave to appeal against the November 20, 2017, decision of the Court of Appeal, which ordered INEC to conduct a re-run election in that senatorial district within 90 days.
Okonkwo had claimed that he was interested in challenging the decision of the appellate court as a senatorial aspirant.
The court on January 11 dismissed Okonkwo’s motion seeking to restrain INEC from conducting the re-run election, NAN reports.
In that judgment, Justice Yahaya held that the earlier order made on November 20, 2017, directing INEC to conduct a re-reun for the senatorial seat within 90 days could not be reversed.
The judge said such action was not recognised by the court, and that the panel could not succumb to an invitation to make a mockery of the judiciary.
The Electoral Commission has since successfully conducted the election with Chief Victor Umeh of APGA winning the contested seat.
