JUST IN: Tribunal Overturns Enugu House of Representatives Election Results, Declares Labour Party’s Dennis Agbo Winner

The House of Representatives tribunal has invalidated the election of Simon Atigwe, the member representing Igboeze North/Udenu federal constituency. The tribunal declared Dennis Nnamdi Agbo of the Labour Party (LP) the rightful winner of the rerun election.

Initially, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Atigwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the rerun held on February 3, 2024. Atigwe was announced to have received 23,863 votes, surpassing Agbo, who secured 23,226 votes.

Agbo, who had previously been declared the winner of the February 25, 2023, election before being unseated by the appellate court, contested the rerun results. His legal team contended that the election was fraught with discrepancies, including incorrect vote tabulations and significant violations of the electoral act.

In its ruling on Wednesday, August 14, the tribunal, led by Justice H.N. Kunaza, upheld Agbo’s petition, asserting that the election results were indeed flawed. The tribunal declared the 2,000 votes erroneously attributed to the PDP candidate invalid, reinstating the original votes from February 25, 2023. The revised totals stood at 14,229 for PDP and 28,870 for LP, positioning Agbo as the clear victor.

The panel concluded that Atigwe was not legitimately elected based on the valid votes, as Agbo had secured 23,221 votes against PDP’s 21,863. Consequently, the tribunal ordered the withdrawal of the certificate of return from Atigwe and directed it to be issued to Agbo.