On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld Governor Dave Umahi as the All Progressive Congress’ (APC) legitimate candidate for the Ebonyi South Senatorial District election.
An appeal filed by Princess Ann Agom-Eze, was dismissed by the Supreme a in a unanimous ruling by a five-member panel chaired by Justice Kudirat Ekekere-Ekun.
The panel determined that the appeal had no merit and should be rejected.
In order to overturn the concurrent rulings of the Federal High Legal and the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the outcome of the primary election that resulted in governor Umahi, Agom-Eze filed a court petition.
You may recall that Austin Umahi, Gov. Umahi’s younger brother, won the first senatorial primary the APC held on May 28. Mrs. Agom-eze finished in second place.
However, it was reported that Governor Umahi’s younger brother voluntarily gave up the senatorial ticket to him after he was unsuccessful in securing the APC’s presidential nomination.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, declared that it would not recognize his candidacy because it was dissatisfied with the procedure.
Following a lawsuit brought by Mrs. Agom-Eze, a Federal High Court in Abakaliki declared governor Umahi’s nomination invalid and mandated the holding of a new primary election within two weeks.
Due to the court’s ruling, the APC held a second primary on July 31. Governor Umahi won this election.
The appellant moved to court to obtain a restraining order because she was upset with the party’s decision to hold the new primary election.
Both the high court and the appellate court dismissed the case after concluding that there was no justification to throw out the results of the second primary election.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday also upheld the primary election and endorsed governor Umahi’s candidacy.