The Court of Appeal has affirmed Senator Orji Uzor Kalu as the winner of the Abia North Senatorial District seat in the February 25 poll.

The court, presided over by Justice Abiri, upheld the earlier judgment by the Abia State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.

The candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Nnamdi Iro Orji, and his Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Senator Mao Ohabunwa, had appealed the Tribunal’s judgment.

But in a unanimous ruling, the panel of justices described the appeal as lacking in merit and maintained that Senator Kalu complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Kalu, a two-time lawmaker, was declared the winner of the February 25 senatorial polls, with 30,805 votes to defeat Nnamdi, who got 27,540 votes, while Mao Ohuabunwa scored 15,175 votes to place third.