IMO WEST: UZODINMA NOT A CANDIDATE - COURT OF APPEAL

Following the Court of Appeal judgment of April 5, affirming the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Daily Sun reliably gathered that Chief Hope Uzodimnma was never a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the April 9, 2011, National Assembly election.

The Court, in a unanimous decision delivered by Honourable Justice J. O. Bada, upheld that the Federal High Court ruling presided over by Justice A Abdul-Kafarati, maintained as follows: 'That (A) The first defendant, (Chief Hope Uzodinma) was not qualified to participate and or take part in the primary election conducted by the second defendant (PDP) for the selection of its candidate for Imo West Senatorial District.

'(B) That an order is hereby granted pursuant to Paragraph 27 (v) of the PDP electoral guidelines for primary elections 2010, that the first defendant having been certified unfit/not cleared to contest the National Assembly primary election by the second defendant's screening appeal panel, is not eligible to take part or contest as an aspirant at the second defendant's primary election held for the selection/election of the second defendant's candidate for Imo West Senatorial District/Constituency.

'That an order of injunction is hereby granted restraining the 1st defendant (Chief Hope Uzodinma) from parading himself and/or representing or holding out himself as the candidate of the 2nd defendant (PDP) in the forthcoming general election or otherwise representing that he was validly elected/chosen by the second defendant as its candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the forthcoming 2011 general election.'

Speaking with Daily Sun, Mr. Uju Onwuka, Chief Press Secretary to Senator Osita Izunaso, said the letter from Barrister C.O.C Akolisa, the Legal Adviser of the PDP in Imo State, published in the Daily Sun of Wednesday, April 13, 2011, requesting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to furnish them with the list of candidates for the National and State Assembly elections, was fraudulent as INEC has not furnished them with any list of candidates, and INEC did not reply him but he manufactured and concocted the documents that he published.

Authentic INEC results, according to Onwuka, are always published in forms EC8CED.

'We are not joining issues with anybody. Senator Izunaso ran his election on April 9 and he won his election. The Federal High Court declared him candidate of this election on January 28, 2011, and on April 5, 2011, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court, thereby making Izunaso the candidate of the party.'

Speaking further, Onwuka said on April 9, Izunaso ran his election and won the election and was declared the winner of the election. 'These are fraudulent documents and the target is to mislead the people. And the general people of Orlu will refuse to be misled. So, this does not exist and even the man who wrote this thing, he claims to be a lawyer but I am not even sure he is a lawyer.