Federal Court Invalidates PDP Candidate’s Participation in Ebonyi South By-Election

A Federal High Court in Abakaliki has invalidated Silas Onu’s candidacy as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nominee for the Ebonyi South senatorial bye-election set for February 3. Justice Hyeladziya Ngajiwa affirmed that the PDP failed to conduct the required three-man ad-hoc and one-man national delegates mandated to vote in the primary election. Consequently, the court ordered the immediate removal of Onu’s name from the INEC portal and instructed him to pay one million naira to each of the plaintiffs for leading the Party astray. Onu, however, contested the ruling, claiming that the PDP will file a Notice of Appeal to enable the Party’s continued participation in the impending election. “While we acknowledge that the judgment is contrived and politically motivated, we are filing our notice of appeal immediately to legally continue our participation in the election. Our supporters are urged to come out and vote for PDP on Saturday 3rd February, 2024,” he stated.