Ozurigbo had, last Wednesday, resigned his position as the Deputy Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly.

Justice P.A. Rigime, who delivered the judgment, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to Kingsley Echendu of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Neither PDP nor its candidate was a party to the suit.

The court said that Harrison Nwadike, who is the plaintiff, was the “rightful winner” of the All Progressives Congress primary election in the federal constituency.

Nwadike had taken his party, APC, and INEC to court over the submission of Ozurigbo’s name as the candidate of the party.

Nwadike, who prayed the court to declare him as the APC’s rightful candidate, contended that automatic tickets were unknown to the Constitution.

The court, in its judgment, agreed with the petitioner that automatic tickets were unknown to law.

The justice, who said that the candidacy of Ozurigbo was illegitimate, ordered INEC to issue the PDP candidate, Echendu, who came second in the general election, with a Certificate of Return as the rightful winner of the election.

The petitioner, who spoke after the judgment was delivered, said that while he agreed with the court that he was the rightful winner of the APC primary election in the federal constituency, it was wrong for the court to have declared the PDP candidate the lawful winner of the general election.

He said he would go to court to challenge the aspect of the judgment which ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to the PDP candidate.

But Stanley Imo, counsel to the PDP candidate who is the beneficiary of the court judgment, told our correspondent that the court was right to have declared his client the rightful winner of the election.

He said, “The law is very clear on this. Harrison Nwadike did not participate in all the stages of the election but my client did.

“Now, the court held that Ugonna Ozurigbo was not the rightful candidate of the APC (and) said that the second runner-up, who is my client that participated in all the stages of the elections, should be issued with the Certificate of Return.”

The PDP publicity secretary in the state, Damian Opara, urged INEC to waste no time in issuing its candidate the Certificate of Return as ordered by the court.

Opara, who spoke to our correspondent, said the judgment “has shown that impunity and illegality are bad. PDP did perfect primary elections and we are reaping the dividends.”

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This came on the heels of the purported impeachment served on the Speaker, Iheanacho Ihim (AA-Okigwe) on Wednesday.

In a letter dated May 15 and addressed to the speaker, Ozurigbo said that his resignation was to enable him to function well as a member-elect of the House of Representatives.

He stated: “As you already know, I have been sent to another four years mission by my federal constituency, nay Imo, at the House of Representatives, Abuja.

“This new task has come with its own challenges and expectations. I need to play key roles in the formation of the National Assembly leadership.

“This is the time to strategically position and pursue the greater interests of Imo, South East and Nigeria at the federal legislature. Currently, all these will make my availability in Imo irregular.

“Hence, I seek your understanding as I either save the office of Imo State Deputy Speaker by resigning or allow my new engagements to suffer the office by holding same tenaciously.”

Ozurigbo added that his action became necessary to ensure the efficiency in the assembly and for the good of Imo people.

“I hereby resign as the Rt. Hon. Deputy Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly (8th House) effective from the date written above,” his stated.

Meanwhile, the speaker, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Marcel Ekwezuo, has denied that a notice of impeachment was served on him.

Ihim said what transpired outside the chambers of the house after it had adjourned was “the usual tingling of love common between peaceful, happy and united brothers and sisters.”

According to him, the said impeachment notice was especially so, because business of the house of assembly is strictly conducted inside the main chambers of the assembly.

Ihim however assured the people of Imo that the 8th assembly would continue to deliver to them the dividends of democracy as desired.

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Ozurigbo, who is the current Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, said they would support Gbajabiamila since he was the choice of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress.

He made his position known at a press conference in Owerri, the state capital, claiming that apart from the support of lawmakers elected on the platform of the APC, Gbajabiamila also enjoyed the support of lawmakers elected on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Action Alliance and Social Democratic Party.

He further claimed that that 162 new members of the House of Representatives were all supporting Gbajabiamila.

Ozurigbo said, as a founding member of the APC, he could not be seen to be opposing the decision of the party and that of the President on the matter.

He said that both the President and APC had endorsed Gbajabiamila as the next Speaker of the House of representatives.

He said he would not support his colleague from the state, Chike Okafor, who had declared interest in the position of the Speaker.

According to him, the South-East with only two APC House of Representatives members, does not have the numerical strength to produce the Speaker.

Ozurigbo said, “The truth of the matter is that Femi Gbajabiamila will emerge the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Election is a game of number and the House Leader has most of the lawmakers-elect. The 162 members-elect of the APC extraction have declared support for him. Gbajabiamila only needs about 30 other members to have 181 votes which the House rule stipulates.

“I wish Chike Okafor good luck, but we in the South-East are supporting Femi Gbajabiamila to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“As his coordinator in the South-East,I am reaching out and we are upbeat that members from other political parties will support and vote for him.”

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