There is palpable anxiety in Imo State as the governorship election tribunal sets for judgment.
This is following the adoption of final arguments by the parties involved in the legal debacle over the legitimacy or otherwise of the governorship election that produced Chief Emeka Ihedioha as the Governor of the State.
The trio of Ugwumba Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance, Senators Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress and Ifeanyi Ararume of the All Progressives Congress are challenging the victory of the PDP candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, in the March 9th governorship election in the State.
Nwosu, who placed second in the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), believes that with the argument and evidences he presented before the tribunal, he will be declared as winner.
Nwosu, who polled over 180,000 votes to place second is contending that the PDP candidate allegedly colluded with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, manipulate and inflate figures in the three Mbaise LGAs of the State, and asked the tribunal to cancel the results from areas where the said massive fraud was perpetrated, and declare him winner with valid votes cast in the election.
He argued that he won the election, and met the Constitutional requirement of garnering 25% votes in 75% of the State.
Alternatively, he asked the court to declare the election inconclusive and order a run-off between him and Emeka Ihedioha, as according to him, it is obvious by the Certified True Copies of results presented at the tribunal that the PDP candidate fell short of the provision of section 159(2) of the Constitution.
The awaited judgement is now the topic of discusion in the State, especially the government circles.
But a senior aide of the governor, who would not want his name in print, as he is not permitted to speak on the issue, told our correspondent that there was no cause for alarm.
“Whatever the Tribunal rules, if it is not favourable, we shall proceed to the Appeal Court, then to the Supreme Court. This is the court of first instance, so, no cause for alarm,” he said.
Prodded further, he said “The governor is a very experienced politician, so, when we get to the bridge, we shall cross it,” he added.
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