2027 senatorial seat: No constitutional obstacle in opposition to Uzodimma- APC chieftain

The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, South East, and APC Presidential Campaign Council South East Co-Zonal Coordinator, Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has declared that there is no such thing as a constitutional obstacle stopping Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, from pursuing his senatorial aspiration for the Imo West Senatorial District within the 2027 basic elections.

He additional cited Section 68(1)(f) of the Constitution, which states {that a} member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat if he turns into President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or holds some other govt workplace.

This provision, he acknowledged, equally recognises that an individual might transfer from an govt workplace to a legislative one, offered the 2 places of work should not held concurrently.

“There isn’t any constitutional obstacle in opposition to Senator Hope Uzodinma’s aspiration,” Arodiogbu declared. “The Constitution does not require a sitting governor to resign merely because he desires to contest another election. What it forbids is dual occupancy of offices. Should he win the senatorial election, he would resign as Governor before taking the oath of office as a Senator. That is the clear position of the law.”_

He identified that in decoding Sections 66, 107, 137, 182 and 183 of the Constitution, the appellate courts have maintained that resignation shouldn’t be a precondition for contesting; somewhat, it turns into mandatory solely when the profitable candidate is required to imagine the brand new workplace. This place aligns with the sensible actuality that many elected officers have beforehand contested larger or different places of work whereas nonetheless serving out their phrases.

Arodiogbu additionally referenced the Electoral Act, notably the provisions coping with qualification and disqualification of candidates, noting that none of them imposes a blanket ban on a sitting governor from taking part in a senatorial election.

The essential constitutional and statutory requirement stays that an individual can not validly occupy each the workplace of Governor and that of a Senator on the similar time.

He emphasised that Governor Uzodinma’s present tenure, which runs till January 2028, creates no authorized incapacity with respect to the 2027 senatorial election. Any mandatory transition can be effected in accordance with the Constitution as soon as the brand new National Assembly is inaugurated.

“The law is clear, the Constitution is clear, and the judicial authorities support this position,” Arodiogbu acknowledged.

“Those peddling the contrary view are either deliberately misinterpreting the Constitution or attempting to create political distraction. Senator Hope Uzodinma remains free to pursue his legitimate political aspiration without any constitutional disability.”

He reaffirmed the APC’s help for the governor because the celebration’s candidate for Imo West and urged celebration members and the general public to ignore speculative authorized arguments designed to undermine the celebration’s inside democratic course of.

Arodiogbu concluded by stressing that the structure protects the appropriate of each certified Nigerian, together with a sitting governor, to aspire to larger or different public workplace, topic solely to the clear requirement that no two places of work could also be held concurrently.