INEC Declares Politician Serving Jail Term Winner of Assembly Rerun Election

INEC further announced that Certificates of Return would be presented to successful candidates on August 21 and 22, 2025.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared “Bright Ngene of the Labour Party (LP)” as the winner of the rerun election in Enugu South Urban Constituency, Enugu State.

The declaration was made in a statement on Tuesday by INEC’s spokesperson, Sam Olumekun, following the August 16, 2025 rerun—marking the fourth attempt at conducting the court-ordered exercise since the 2023 polls were nullified in eight polling units.

Mr. Olumekun confirmed that “Ngene Bright Emeka of the Labour Party (LP) was declared the winner” after securing the highest number of votes to defeat his closest rival, Sam Ngene of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He noted: “Declaration and return were made by the returning officers. Two re-run elections by order of the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals were held in Enugu and Kano States. After previous disruptions of the elections in the two states by violence and thuggery, the elections have now been concluded.”

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INEC further announced that Certificates of Return would be presented to successful candidates on August 21 and 22, 2025.

Meanwhile, Bright Ngene remains in the Enugu State Correctional Centre, where he is serving a seven-year jail term after being convicted on July 28, 2024, by an Enugu South Magistrate Court over a communal crisis.

Observers have questioned the conviction, describing it as politically motivated. Before his initial election victory in 2023, the case had been transferred to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) but was later revisited and hurriedly concluded, leading to his imprisonment.

Despite the controversies, the LP candidate has consistently won in all rerun elections, including those ordered by the Court of Appeal, though many of them were later annulled.