On Tuesday, 14th January 2020, the winner of the March 9 2019 Imo State gubernatorial election, Emeka Ihedioha, was sacked by the supreme court. Uzodimma was, in turn, declared the Governor of the state.
Since Emeka Ihedioha was ruled the winner of the March 9 elections by INEC, you may wonder “why then did the supreme court dismiss him and is replacing him with Uzodimma?”
To answer your question, we’ve gone to dig into what happened.
Three hundred and eighty-eight (388) polling units had their results canceled by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in the gubernatorial election that brought in Emeke Ihedioha as the Executive Governor of Imo State.
The panel consisting of seven (7) men, led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, delivered a unanimous judgment that upheld the appeal filed by Uzodinma challenging the legitimacy of Governor Ihedioha since he failed to win the majority votes in lights of those 388 polling units.
On Tuesday, 14th January 2020, the Supreme Court reversed the cancellation of the results gathered from the 388 polling units that were canceled in the Imo State March 9, 2019, governorship election.
This in effect, reverses the win of Governor Emeka Ihedioha, thereby enabling the supreme court to declare the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Hope Uzodinma, the winner of the election.
According to Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, given the results from the 388, Hope Uzodinma now carries the majority of the lawful votes and thereby should be declared the winner of the March 9 2019 election by INEC.
She also ordered that the Certificate of Return that was issued to Emeka Ihedioha by withdrawn from him and given to Hope Uzodinma since he is now the lawfully elected Governor of the State.
Recall that we brought you the news of Rochas Okorocha declaring his support for APC’s Hope Uzodinma upon his declaration as the Governor of Imo State.
Follow OYOGIST on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for timely updates.
