Labour Party’s Nwokocha Loses Out As Supreme Court Affirms PDP’s Austin Akobundu As Abia Central Senator

The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed Austin Akobundu as the duly elected Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District.

The apex court by its decision, dismissed the petition by Darlington Nwokocha of the Labour Party (LP).

The Court dismissed the motion filed by Nwokocha of the Labour Party (LP) seeking the review of the judgment of the Court of Appeal which nullified his return by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) on the ground that he was not duly nominated by his party for the election.

Naija News recalls the Court of Appeal had last week Friday, dismissed the application filed by Nwokocha of the Labour Party (LP), seeking to review and reverse its earlier judgment wherein it declared Senator Akobundu as the duly elected senator for Abia Central Senatorial District.

The Court of Appeal has affirmed its judgment declaring Senator Austin Akobundu, representing Abia Central Senatorial District, as the winner of the February 25, 2023, National Assembly election in the Senatorial District.

This platform reports that despite the fact that the Appeal Court is the Court of final jurisdiction on National Assembly matters, Hon. Nwokocha approached the Supreme Court seeking it to reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

But the apex court in its ruling, dismissed Nwokocha’s motion thus bringing his bid to unseat Senator Akobundu to an end. It also awarded a fine of N2m against Hon. Nwokocha, bringing the total cost he is to pay to Senator Akobundu to N7m as the appellate court had also awarded N5m against him.

The PDP confirmed the court ruling in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.