Court of Appeal sacks Akwa Ibom Rep, orders rerun

The Court of Appeal in Abuja invalidated the election of Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, who represented Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives for Akwa Ibom State. After a supplementary election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Ukpong-Udo, a member of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), as the winner of the February 25 elections. However, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Glory Edet, contested his victory.

Following the challenge, the Akwa Ibom State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal nullified the YPP candidate’s election and ordered a rerun. Dissatisfied with this decision, Ukpong-Udo appealed to the Court of Appeal to overturn the tribunal’s ruling. On Wednesday, a panel led by Justice Abba Mohammed at the Court of Appeal upheld the tribunal’s decision, instructing a rerun. The specifics of whether the rerun applies to the entire federal constituency or specific polling units with inconclusive results remain unclear.