Bye-election: Appeal Court sacks Araraume as Imo North APC candidate

The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, on Friday, sacked Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Imo North bye-election.

The judgment, which was delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, came barely 24 hours to the bye-election which holds on Saturday, December 5, in the 64 wards across the six local government areas.

The justice, who delivered the judgment in a tension-soaked courtroom, declared Frank Ibezim as the authentic candidate of the APC ahead of the election.

He faulted the November 6 judgment of the Federal High Court which sacked Ibezim and announced Araraume, who represented the district between 1999 and 2007 as the rightful winner of APC primary election.

The justice ordered INEC to immediately enlist Ibezim’s name as the candidate of the party for the bye-election.

He said that the revalidation of the candidacy of Ibezim was in tandem with the electoral act, having won the APC primary election in September.