Court upholds Odii, drops Ogba as Ebonyi PDP guber candidate

Court upholds Odii, drops Ogba as Ebonyi PDP guber candidate.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State has upheld the primary election of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State that produced Dr Ifeanyi Odii as the party’s candidate.

The court also declared that the rerun primary which produced Senator Obinna Ogba as a governorship candidate of the party in the state was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

Justice Fatun Riman of the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Tuesday upheld the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary that produced Dr. Ifeanyi Odii as the party’s governorship candidate in Ebonyi State.

The judge also declared the rerun primary which produced Senator Obinna Ogba as the party’s governorship candidate in the state as null and void.

The PDP conducted a fresh primary in the state last week after disputes arose over the May 29 election that produced Odii.

But Justice Riman held that the second primary that produced Ogba and other candidates were illegal and as such, could not stand.

He said the primary which was repeated on June 4 and 5 while the case was still pending were not monitored by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The judge said: “One, the rescheduled primaries were conducted when the suit filed on May 30 was already pending in the court.

“The primary was not monitored by INEC, therefore, the rescheduled exercise of June 4 and 5, that elected Senator Obinna Ogba as another gubernatorial candidate and others are hereby nullified.”