The court of appeal in Abuja, federal capital territory, has affirmed Ifeanyi Ubah as the duly elected senator for Anambra south senatorial district.

Delivering his judgement, the appellate court justice, Stephen Adah, averred that the judgment of the lower court which removed Ubah as senator was a nullity.

LagosTimes recalled that Bello Kawu, judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Kubwa, had annulled Ubah’s election on April 11, 2019 on the grounds that the National Examination Council (NECO) certificate he presented to INEC was forged.

After hearing the case again on January 17, 2020, the high court reserved its previous judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to revoke the certificate of return issued to Ubah and to issue fresh certificate to Obinna Uzoh, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the senator-elect of the district.

But Ubah challenged the verdict of the court,  arguing that he was not given fair hearing during litigation.

Subsequently, Ubah through his counsel, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, submitted that as of the time the judgment in suit No: FCT/HC/CV/3044/2018 was delivered, the suit was not properly filed before the court and that consequently, “the entire proceedings and the judgment emanating therefrom are manifestly incompetent being a nullity”.

Another issue raised was that the originating summons was not signed by any counsel as required by law.

Delivering the judgment, Adah held that the law makes it mandatory for a legal practitioner to sign an originating summons before it is issued out.

He said: “A document that is not signed is a worthless piece of paper and has no credibility.”

He also agreed that the right of the appellant to fair hearing was breached by the trial court.

“Right to fair hearing is very fundamental and anything done afterwards results to a nullity,” he said.

“The judgment of the lower court is a nullity and is hereby set aside.”