By NewsBits
The former Governor of Imo State, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha has withdrawn from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s governorship primary in the Southeast. The former governor was screened and cleared a few days ago by the PDP to contest the party’s primary ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Imo State.
However, in a letter dated March 27, 2023, Ihedioha informed the PDP leadership of his “personal sacrifice” for a “consensus candidate” by the party. In January 2020, the Supreme Court sacked Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State after barely seven months in office.
The seven-man panel led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad unanimously declared Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 19, 2019 governorship election in the state. It would be recalled that Hope Uzodimma came a distant fourth in the election but the Supreme Court in one of the most ridiculous judgements went ahead to declare Uzodimma governor.
The appellant, Uzodimma had contended that he scored the highest number of votes in the election, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned Ihedioha as the governor of the state. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun who delivered the judgment declared that the votes due to Uzodimma were unlawfully excluded from the 318 polling units and should be added to his votes.
The apex court considered the submissions of a principal witness who was on a subpoena to present results and held that the lower court was wrong in its ruling. Justice Kekere-Ekun subsequently declared Uzodimma as the validly elected governor and the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha was withdrawn by INEC and given to Uzodimma.
That judgment has continued to hunt the Supreme Court till date.
