The Labour Party’s candidate for the Imo State House of Assembly seat in Owerri Municipal, Clinton Amadi, has been released from police custody. He was arrested on Tuesday at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) secretariat in Owerri, where he had gone to obtain certified true copies of the INEC results to file a petition with the Election Petitions Tribunal. He was freed on Thursday, according to our correspondent.
A source who wished to remain anonymous told us that Amadi was released after the police, part of the Tiger Base command, realized his lawyers had missed the deadline for filing the post‑election petition at the Tribunal. A Labour Party chieftain in the state, Fabian Ihekwueme, confirmed that Amadi, who served as a state legislator from 2007 to 2011, had returned home. “He was released Thursday after they learned that his lawyers had already filed his election petition in the Tribunal. They were keeping him to prevent the filing, but luck ran out for them,” Ihekwueme said.
Amadi has now submitted his case with the certified true copies. INEC declared Ugochukwu Obodo of the All Progressives Congress the winner, but Amadi claims the results posted on INEC’s portal show that he won. His arrest sparked public condemnation, with many demanding his immediate release.
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