Hope Uzodinma Reacts To Supreme Court Judgment Declaring Him Imo Governor

Hope Uzodinma has reacted to the Supreme Court judgment which declared him the governor of Imo state, southeast Nigeria.

Naija News had reported earlier the Supreme court sacked Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo state and affirmed Uzodinma as the winner of the March 9 governorship election.

According to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ihedioha, who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), secured 273,404 votes; Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance had 190,364 votes; Ifeanyi Ararume of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 114,676 votes while Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 96,458 votes, a distant fourth in the governorship election.

Giving judgment on the election on Tuesday, a seven-man panel of justices in a unanimous decision, held that Ihedioha did not win the majority of votes cast in the election.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who read the judgment, ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha and give a fresh one to his APC rival.

“The votes due to the appellant, Hope Uzodinma and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from 388 polling units were wrongly excluded from scores ascribed to them,” Justice Kekere-Ekun ruled.

“It is hereby ordered that Emeka Ihedioha, was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the said election. His return as the elected governor of Imo state is hereby declared null and void and accordingly set aside.

“It is hereby declared that the first appellant (Uzodinma) holds the majority of lawful votes cast at the governorship election held in Imo State on March 9, 2019, and has satisfied the mandatory constitutional requirement.

“It is hereby declared that first appellant, senator Hope Uzodinma is the winner of the governorship of Imo State held on March 9, 2019.

“The certificate issued to the first respondent (Ihedioha) is hereby withdrawn. It is hereby ordered that the certificate of return shall be issued to the first appellant, senator Hope Uzodinma, forthwith and he should be sworn in as the governor of Imo State,” the judge added.

Reacting to the judgment in a statement issued by Declan Emelumba, his spokesman, Uzodinma said his “stolen mandate has been recovered.”

His words: “The Supreme Court has declared Sen. Hope Uzodinma as the duly elected governor of Imo State. The beautiful thing is that our stolen mandate has been recovered.

“The governor will arrive in Imo State on Wednesday and he will address the people of the state. He has better plans for the people of the state. He is experienced and the state is in for good things,” the statement added.