The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, October 14, has announced November 30 for judgment in a lawsuit filed against Senator Stella Oduah, seeking an order to invalidate her nomination as Peoples Democratic Party -PDP candidate in Anambra State.
Oduah is currently running to retain her position in the National Assembly, which she won in 2015, and has held the position since then, in the Anambra North Senatorial District for the 2023 election.
Justice Inyang Ekwo had set the date after the counsels for the applicant and the defense adopted and presented their respective positions on the case.
John Emeka, a PDP candidate in the May 27 primary election that was overseen by the Independent National Electoral Commission -INEC, had filed a lawsuit against Oduah, the PDP, and INEC as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively.
According to Emeka, Oduah who is running for the Anambra North Senatorial District in 2023, had lied under oath on both her expression of interest and the nomination forms, including the INEC Form CF001.
Emeka had petitioned the court to
1. Rule that the information Oduah had provided in her INEC Form CF001 regarding her involvement in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program was a lie.
2. Rule that she was ineligible to run in the upcoming election, and/or any other election in the Nigerian Senate as a consequence of the false information she provided.
3. A permanent injunction to prevent PDP from nominating her to represent it in the upcoming election before INEC.
Meanwhile, the senator, who reported that Emeka was no longer a member of the PDP party, denied making any false deposition as her opponent alleged.
“I duly completed my National Youth Service following the law, and the original of the documents stated in the affidavit were indeed lost as I stated.”