Ibezim Takes Oath as Imo North Senator

By Deji Elumoye

Clerk of the Senate, Mr Ibrahim El-Ladan, on Tuesday administered the oath of office on Imo North Senator, Chukwuma Frank Ibezim.

The Senator took the oath in the course of the plenary presided over by President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had on February 16 affirmed the December 4 verdict of the trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, which disqualified Ibezim as the APC candidate over false statements contained in the educational documents he tendered before the party and INEC.

The suit was instituted against Ibezim by one Asomugha Elebeke, while APC, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume were the respondents.

In another judgement, a Federal High Court in Abuja on March 18, 2021, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare Chief Ifeanyi Ararume as the winner of the December 5, 2020 bye-election for the Imo North Senatorial District of Imo State.
Justice Taiwo Oladipupo Taiwo held in a judgment that Ararume remained the authentic candidate of the All Progressive Congress in the election as of that day and should be declared the winner of that election.

But Justice Emmanuel Agim of the Supreme Court, while delivering a unanimous judgment of the panel on Friday, April 16, 2021, held that the suit and verdicts of the two courts cannot stand because they were statute barred (out of time).