In a move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that confirmed the superiority of political party platforms to the candidates who run on them, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared as winner of the Imo North Senatorial bye-election without fielding a clear candidate.
The election held on Saturday and the APC went into the contest without a clear idea in the eye of the law who its candidate was between Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and Mr Frank Ibeziem.
Until Friday morning before the Court of Appeal, Owerri, delivered its judgment validating the candidature of Ibeziem, Araraume was the candidate on the basis of a verdict by a lower Court on the matter of the valid candidate of the party.
Incidentally, on that same Friday, shortly after the Court of Appeal verdict, a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Ekwo Inyang, disqualified Ibeziem on the grounds of presenting forged certificates which qualified him in error for participation in the election.
Both judgments were delivered on the eve of the bye-election, thus presenting a situation in which the APC went into the election without a clear candidate. Subsequent legal actions in the courts above will resolve who the candidate is eventually.
Meantime, the Returning Officer (ERO) for the election, Hakeem Adikum declared the APC as the winner of the election on Sunday at the INEC office located along Port Harcourt road in Owerri.
Adikum did not mention the name of the candidate of APC that won the election but only said the APC won by receiving 36,811 votes while the PDP candidate, Emmanuel Okewulonu, gannexed 31, 903 votes.
While the results showed that APC won five local government areas oout of six, iincluding Ehime Mbano, Onuimo, Ihitte Uboama, Isiala, Mbano, the PDP won only in Obowo local government area.
On why a candidate was not announced, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Francis Ezeonu, relied on what he described as “Several court orders for and against Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and Frank Ibeziem both who are laying claim to the APC candidature.”
The INEC, as learnt, would study all the orders to see which one is the latest that has the preeminent locus to supercede the others in the circumstances pending the intercession of the final court in the matter.
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