Appeal Court sacks Senate Minority Whip Nwokocha

Senate Minority Whip Senator Darlington Nwokocha has been sacked from the Senate by the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos.

Nwokocha, who represents Abia Central in the red chamber of the National Assembly on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), was sacked by the Appeal Court, which declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Col Austin Akobundu (retd), as the duly elected senator in the February 25 polls.

The court, in its ruling, upturned the ruling of the National Assembly election petition tribunal, which earlier upheld Nwokocha’s victory.

Also, the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has dismissed the appeal brought by Anthony Agbazuere, a candidate of PDP, against LP’s House of Representatives member, Ginger Onwusibe.

The court upheld Onwusibe’s victory in the February 25 National Assembly poll and also agreed with the ruling of the tribunal, which had said that Agbazuere’s case lacked merit.

It, therefore, affirmed Onwusibe’s victory as the duly elected member for the Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala Ngwa South federal constituency.

Meanwhile, the Abia chapter of PDP, led by Allwell Asiforo, has congratulated its candidate, Akobundu, on his victory in the Senate appeal case, thanking the judiciary for taking a sound decision.

Akobundu, who is Ikwuano LGA of Abia, was a former Minister of State for Defence.