NewStats: 3,262,006 , 8,175,857 topics. Date: Saturday, 31 May 2025 at 01:52 PM 2634p

*As Chris Uba’s lawyer writes INEC on withdrawal of certificates of return

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA—THE two remaining embattled senators from Anambra State, Senators Andy Uba and Stella Oduah yesterday made a bold appearance in the National Assembly to disprove assertions of their removal from office.

The two senators who were reported by some media channels to have been removed from office on of the judicial affirmation of the Ejike Oguebego faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also attended their committees’ meetings unhindered.


Their action nonetheless, lawyer to the Oguebego faction, Chris Uche, SAN yesterday, wrote the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, asking the body to withdraw the certificates of return issued to Andy Uba and Oduah. Uche in the letter sighted by Vanguard also asked the commission to issue certificates of return to the nominees presented by the Oguebego faction.

Senator Uba, PDP Anambra South attended the meeting of the Senate t Committees on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions yesterday while Oduah, PDP, Anambra North was in her office attending to visitors and files on her table.

Their presence at the National Assembly caught the attention of staff and visitors, following news reports at the weekend of their sack from office on of the Supreme Court judgment on the supremacy battle between the contending factions of the PDP in Anambra State.

The letter from the Oguebego faction addressed to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was titled “Compliance with judgement of Supreme Court Anambra state PDP National Assembly Candidates SC/37/2015-Ejike Oguebego and Anor vs Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, dated January 29, 2016.

The letter was also copied the Chairman, Legal Services Committee, INEC Headquarters, Abuja; the Director, Legal services department INEC, Ibrahim Bawa, SAN, and Hassan Liman, SAN, INEC lead counsel.

Uche stated that the effect of the Supreme Court judgment is that those who were not part of the list of candidates produced by the congress/primary elections under the watch of Oguebego and his executive committee ought and must vacate the positions they occupy at present on the grounds that they were not validly nominated.

The names of Chris Ubah, Annie Okonkwo and 42 others were replaced following the appellate court judgment of 6th February 2015, just before the 2015 general elections.

According to Uche, it is the responsibility of INEC to enforce and comply with the said judgement, saying there was no other primary election conducted by PDP to produce candidates other than the one that produced his clients.

The letter reads in part: “the effect of the Supreme Court judgment consequently is that all those who were not part of the list of candidates produced by the congress/primary elections that the Ejike Oguebego and his executive committee participated in, and monitored by INEC ought and must vacate the positions they presently occupy having not been validly nominated.

“In the light of the foregoing, we therefore demand that your commission complies promptly with the said judgment of the Supreme Court by issuing forthwith Certificates of Returns to our clients as the authentic and legitimate candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party for Anambra state who won the election, the entire gamut of litigation having been exhausted.

“We look forward to your timely cooperation and compliance.”

A of the Supreme Court, had last Friday,in Abuja, reaffirmed the earlier Federal High Court’s verdict, declaring the Oguebego-led PDP as the recognised executive in Anambra State.

The Oguebego faction had masterminded the National Assembly primaries which threw up a separate list of National Assembly aspirants as candidates of the party for the election. Among them is Chief Chris Uba the putative leader of the faction, a brother to Senator Andy Uba who had emerged as Senatorial candidate for Anambra South in rivalry to his brother.

The apex court in its judgment on Friday upheld the earlier decision by Justice Chukwu of the Federal High Court that the Oguebego-led faction as the validly elected leadership of the state chapter of the party.

In December 2014, the Federal High Court had ruled that it was only the constitutionally recognized state party leadership led by Ejike Oguebego that could organize the party primaries.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/s-court-judgment-andy-uba-oduah-resume-work-in-senate/

Hmmmm is well

Resume work? Pls who's confusing us self? Court or media?

I think another or a further pronouncement is needed to know the implications of this judgment by the SC.
That's what you get when you don't itemize ALL your reliefs.
Until then, the duo remains where they are.

Again

read before you comment please

Lol

Breaking news; OBJ just ed the wailing wailers inc.

Wailers be like "we blame Buhari" for this.

lalasticlala food Don done

HisRoyalHardnes:
Breaking news; OBJ just ed the wailing wailers inc.

God forbid! We refused to sell wailers form to him even when he offered to pay more! Let him stay where he is, after all, he is their navigator.

frankyychiji:
God forbid! We refused to sell wailers form to him even when he offered to pay more! Let him stay where he is, after all, he is their navigator.

Seconded bro

When will this people work, with all the court cases everywhere?

hmmmm

OK nau, these people should just start work and focus on building a better Nigeria joor....And set aside all these court issues.....I don't talk my own....

BTW, you can now successfully get rid of excess body fats with our natural products, check my signature for more details

Ghen ghen

Ok

This issue is not as black and white as most people think. did the supreme court cancel their elections? no..it didnt even make any pronoucement as regards their election...let all paties still go back to the supreme court to ask for the implication of their judgement.. my 2kobo

Hmmmmmm

Can someone please explain their kind of sc judgement

Rubbish

whatever..its non of my business




abeg check my SIGNATURE

Which way now Naija

Nigerian Media, Judiciary and Enforcement is bleeped!


This country needs total overhauling... I don't believe we ever had a working government, cause the people we entrust this nation in their hands are not even law abiding!

I just wonder where exactly this country is driving towards..


It's better we unite as one citizen and tly kick against indisline from this so-called Nigerian government! Cos every bad thing they do in the office bounced back to law abiding citizen like me and you and not them!

This is not a call for tribalism but a call for United Nigeria...

This guys are jokers. Hope they don't get arrested and jailed for disobeying the court judgement. Madam do the needful Stella should know that the days of impunity and corruption is not stealing is over!!!

Lawless lawmakers.

They actually expect to command the respect of their constituency? Ndi ala

A case of remove me if you can...

Chris Uba it's your mandate

End time Senate

Who says this woman is not smart, steal and never get caught, you are never a thief if you do that.

Acc0rding t0 the law, 0ne cann0t be said t0 be duely elected in an electi0n unless the pers0n participates in all the pr0cess 0f the electi0n fr0m party primaries t0 the electi0n pr0per. Theref0re, Chris Uba and his friend cann0t just declare themselves duely elected senat0rs when they never participated in the said electi0ns. The Amaechi advantage where he was declared g0vern0r with0ut participating in the electi0n has been amended by the Nati0nal assembly. The resultant effect is that Andy Uba and Stella 0dua w0uld remain senat0rs until 2019. I BLAME THE MEDIA F0R THIS MIS-INF0RMATI0N AND C0NFUSI0N.

sammyj:
This guys are jokers. Hope they don't get arrested and jailed for disobeying the court judgement. Madam do the needful Stella should know that the days of impunity and corruption is not stealing is over!!!

You are not really serious, are you? Arrested for what? You may not be a lawyer but even as a layman, some issues should be clear enough if only you would take the time to read the literature on it in detail. First of all, the Judgment of the Supreme Court ONLY recognized one of several competing factions of the Anambra PDP as the genuine State Exco; this has absolutely no implications as to who are the authentic candidates of the party. The SC did not mention the names of any of the competing candidates or the issue of their nomination even once in the entire Judgment. Neither Chris Ubah, Annie Okonkwo, Andy Ubah nor Stella Oduah were parties to the case in the Supreme Court & it is trite law that a Court cannot make a pronouncement or orders against persons who are not parties before it. Primaries are not conducted by PDP State Chapters but by a set up by the National Executive Committee of the party. So which ever faction is declared to be the genuine State Exco has no bearing on the authenticity or otherwise of the Primaries. Even more crucially, it is the National Execitive Committee of Parties that sign and submit to INEC it's lists/Nomination Forms of its candidates to contest elections on its platform in the entire country from House of Assembly, Reps, Senate, Governorship, Presidency. The only list of Candidates signed & submitted by State Excos are for Councilorship & LGA Chairmanship elections submitted to State Electoral Commissions, so again, who is or is not the authentic State Exco of the party as declared by the Supreme Court has no bearing on who the authentic candidates of PDP are. For the purpose of National elections (House of Assembly to President), there is only one party & it is the NEC of the party, not the State Exco (whether or not declared genuine by the SC) that determines the party's candidates & submits their names to INEC. In this case the PDP National Exco submitted the names of Andy Ubah & Stella Odua who then went on to contest & win the general elections. Finally, it is laughable to suggest that Chris Ubah & Annie Okonkwo should be given Certificates of Return when they never contested & were not on the ballot during the General Election. Section 141 of the Electoral Act is very clear on that: It provides that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any Court declare as winner of an Election, any candidate who did not participate at ALL STAGES of the election; so while Chris Ubah & Annie Okonkwo purportedly participated in primaries, they never participated in the General Election. It's not like the learned Silk, Chris Uche does not know all these; who go comot sugar wey dem put for im mouth?

vedaxcool:
Wailers be like "we blame Buhari" for this.

grass don finish?