Court sacks Enugu House of Reps’ members

Orders refund of salaries, allowances to N’Assembly

The Federal High Court, Abuja Division has sacked two House of Representatives members from Enugu State, Stella Ngwu (Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency) and Dennis Agbo (Igbo-Eze North/Udenu).

Justice Okon Abang, who gave judgment yesterday on the pre-election matter arising from the primary poll conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in December 2014, held that the victories of Ngwu and Agbo were unlawful.

Abang ordered the sacked lawmakers to refund all salaries and allowances they collected to the coffers of the National Assembly. He also declared Dr. Gabriel A. Okafor as the rightful winner of the Igbo-Eze North/Udenu constituency primary election and Chijioke H. Ugwu at the Egbo-Eze North/Udenu poll.

The PDP and its National Working Committee (NWC) were the first and second defendants; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was the third while Ngwu and Agbo were the fourth in the two separate suits.

The court declared that the PDP and its NWC had no right or authority to use any delegates’ list for the election for its candidate for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani and Igbo-Eze North/Udenu other than that, which emerged in its ward congresses, held on November 1, 2014.

The judge ordered INEC to immediately issue certificates of return to Okafor and Ugwu.

He also awarded the sum of N100, 000 as cost against the defendants in favour of the plaintiff.