The Court of Appeal Abuja division has declared Francis Agbo as the validly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State.
In a unanimous judgment a three-member panel of the appellate court held that Aida Ogwuche who was declared winner of the PDP primaries by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) was still a staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) as at the time of the election.
Mr Agbo, who doubles as the Chairman of the House Committee on Narcotics and Drugs came second at the disputed primary election.
Consequently, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately withdraw the certificate of return issued to her and issued same to Mr Agbo as the validly nominated candidate of the party for the federal seat.
Justice B.I Gafai who led the panel of justices said that Miss Ogwuche ought to have resigned her employment from the service before contesting in the primary election of the PDP.
