Court puts Nwoye on ballot, strikes out Ukachukwu

A Nigerian Court of Appeal on Wednesday in Port Harcourt nullified the recognition of Nicholas Ukachukwu as the PDP candidate for the 16 November governorship election in the eastern Nigerian state of Anambra.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Ejebi Eko, the court ruled that Tony Nwoye was duly nominated and sponsored by the PDP as its candidate for the gubernatorial election.

The court ordered INEC to immediately effect the change of names on the electoral materials printed for the election to reflect Tony Nwoye.

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had earlier recognised Ukachukwu as the PDP candidate for the election.

However, the Court of Appeal said that the Federal High Court had wrongly relied on alleged irregularities in the tax clearance certificate to disqualify Nwoye.

Mr Clems Ezika, counsel to Nwoye, said that the implication of the Court of Appeal’s ruling was that the candidature of Ukachukwu had been nullified.

Mr Orji Orizu, counsel to Ukachukwu, nonetheless, said that his client would appeal against the ruling at the Supreme Court.