Senate President Godswill Akpabio has sworn in Col. Augustine Akobundo (retd.) as the senator representing Abia Central on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Senate President had directed the Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze, to administer the oaths of Office and Allegiance on Akobundu before he was led to take his seat.
Akobundu replaced Senator Darlington Nwokocha of the Labour Party (LP) who was the Minority Whip before he was sacked by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on November 4. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Nwokocha as the winner of the February 25 National Assembly poll in Abia Central with a total of 92,116 votes, while Akobundu came second with 41,477 votes.
Dissatisfied with the result, Akobundu, a former Minister of State for Defence, filed a petition before the election petitions tribunal to upturn Nwokocha’s election. His appeal was rejected by the tribunal in September. Undeterred by the ruling, Akobundu, who was PDP’s Organising Secretary, approached the appellate court to further seek redress.
