Abia State House of Assembly has refused to inaugurate an elected member, Aaron Uzodike who contested in the 2023 general election for Abia North State Constituency, Abia State, Southeast Nigeria, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Initially, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Destiny Nwangwu of the Labour Party (LP) election winner in the constituency. However, challenging the pronouncement, Aaron Uzodike challenged the victory of the LP candidate at the Court of Appeal in Lagos State.
The court, in its judgement on 27 November 2023, nullified the election of Mr Nwangwu and ordered the immediate withdrawal of the certificate of return earlier issued to the LP candidate. Thus, declaring Aaron Uzodike the winner of the exercise with an order to INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to the PDP candidate.
The Court of Appeal is the highest court for adjudication of disputes over elections in federal and state legislatures. A letter dated 13 December 2023 and signed by INEC’s secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony was sent to the clerk of the state’s House of the Assembly announcing the withdrawal of the certificate of return from the Labour Party candidate. The letter was purportedly received by the clerk of the House on 18 December of that year.
Notably, based on the inauguration of the Abia State Assembly on 14 June 2023, the PDP had the majority with 11 members. While the LP had ten members, the YPP had two members, and the APC had only one member. However, the LP dropped to nine members after the Court of Appeal nullified Mr Nwangwu’s election, while the number of PDP seats in the House increased to 12. The state governor, Alex Otti, is a member of the LP.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Emmanuel Emeruwa, also belongs to the LP. The speaker has the responsibility to ensure the inauguration of the PDP candidate in compliance with the Court of Appeal judgement.
Uzodike says he has submitted all the documents needed for his inauguration to the House of Assembly. Documents which he submitted include the certificate of return issued to him by INEC, the certified true copy of the court judgement that declared him the winner of the election and the INEC’s letter notifying the clerk of the House of the withdrawal of Mr Nwangwu’s certificate of return. The politician said that after submitting the documents, the speaker of the House, Emmanuel Emeruwa, scheduled his inauguration for 18 January but later sent a message to him on the same day that it would not hold any longer due to an ‘order from above’ without indicating the individual or authority that issued the order. He added that, on 16 April, he visited the assembly chambers after the House reconvened following Easter break and presented himself for the inauguration. He said, again, that the speaker did not allow him to make a presentation or inaugurate him and to date.
In an open letter to the speaker in March this year, a member of the PDP in Abia State and former Commissioner for Information in the state, John Kalu, accused Emmanuel Emeruwa of illegally anchoring his decision not to inaugurate Aaron Uzodike on a High Court order that ran contrary to the superior and final decision of the Court of Appeal.
Kalu, in the open letter, said Emeruwa ought to know that the “Appeal Court is not only superior court to a state High Court but also the final arbiter in the litigation of electoral matters” involving the legislative arm of government. “As a result of the refusal of the Speaker Emeruwa to inaugurate Hon Aaron Uzodike, Aba North State Constituency, where I ordinarily reside, does not have any representative at the Abia State House of Assembly, thereby denying the people the right to be heard and appropriately rewarded with dividends of democracy,” he said.
