2027 polls: Imo Rep threatens cybercrime action after Supreme Court nullifies candidature

A member of the House of Representatives, Emeka Chinedu, has reportedly threatened to invoke Nigeria’s cybercrime law against the Convener of Ezinihitte Progressives, AIC Akwarandu, following a Supreme Court judgment with implications for his candidacy in the 2027 general elections.

Chinedu, who represents the Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Federal Constituency of Imo State, allegedly issued the threat in a WhatsApp message sent to Akwarandu after the apex court delivered its judgment.

According to the message seen by our correspondent, the lawmaker threatened legal action over Akwarandu’s comments concerning the judgment and Chinedu’s recent political activities.

The development followed a statement by Akwarandu welcoming the Supreme Court decision, which he said had effectively ended Chinedu’s bid to secure a third term in the House of Representatives.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to party membership registers and the nomination of candidates.

The apex court restored Sections 77(5), (6) and (7), as well as Section 84(2), which had earlier been voided by the Court of Appeal.

The judgment has implications for candidates whose eligibility to participate in party primaries depends on compliance with statutory requirements concerning party membership registers.

Chinedu, a two-term lawmaker, recently defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP) after leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The YPP had on September 18 unveiled him as its candidate for the Ahiazu Mbaise/Ezinihitte Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Reacting to the development, Akwarandu said the judgment had “finally closed the late defection loophole.”

He argued that an aspirant could not participate in the primary election of one political party, lose the ticket, defect to another party and subsequently obtain the latter party’s ticket for the same election cycle.

Akwarandu further contended that Chinedu could not have been a valid member of the YPP when the party submitted its statutory membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), given the timing of his movement between political parties.

The Ezinihitte Progressives subsequently declared that the constituency had no candidate on the ballot for the 2027 House of Representatives election.

The group also called on political actors who allegedly collected money from Chinedu during his search for a political platform to refund the funds.

It further urged the lawmaker to withdraw from the race.

The group alleged that Chinedu had initially left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under which he won the constituency in 2019 and 2023, for the APC in an effort to secure the party’s ticket for a third term.

According to the group, after failing to secure the APC ticket, Chinedu allegedly made moves towards the African Democratic Congress (ADC) before eventually securing the YPP ticket.

However, the group’s interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment goes beyond what has been contained in publicly reported summaries of the ruling.

Reports on the judgment indicate that the apex court specifically upheld statutory requirements relating to party membership registers and nomination procedures. The direct effect of the judgment on Chinedu’s specific candidature would therefore depend on how those requirements apply to the facts of his case.

Chinedu has represented the federal constituency since 2019. He was re-elected in 2023 on the platform of the PDP after the Court of Appeal affirmed his election and dismissed challenges brought by candidates of the APC and Labour Party.

The Supreme Court had also previously dismissed an APC challenge to his nomination as the PDP candidate ahead of the 2023 election, holding that the APC lacked the legal standing to challenge the internal candidate-selection process of the PDP.

Chinedu’s recent move to the YPP had been presented by his campaign team as the beginning of a new political chapter in his bid for another term.

The latest dispute has, however, shifted attention to the legal implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment, the statutory requirements for party membership and nomination, and the continuing political contest over who will represent the Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Federal Constituency in 2027.