Senator Victor C. Umeh, OFR is a Nigerian politician who served as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and now Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District in the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the ticket of the Labour Party. Umeh hails from Aguluzigbo, a town in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State .[1]

Political career

Umeh was a national chairman of APGA  for several years but his tenure as chairman was plagued with legal battles about who was the authentic national chairman of the party. In 2018, he ran on the ticket of the party in a byelection election into the Anambra Central Senatorial District to fill the vacancy created by the death of the senator representing the district. He won the election with 64,879 votes to defeat 13 other candidates who polled less than a thousand votes each.[2][3]

Umeh failed to return to the senate in 2019. In 2022, he ran for the nomination of APGA to contest the sensorial election but lost. He attributed his failure to win the ticket as a gang-up against him by party members and then resigned from the party and joined the Labour Party where he was nominated to run in the 2023 senate election.[4] He was disqualified from the race on 27 January 2023 following a petition brought against him by the peoples Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate Uche Ekwunife that Umeh did not resign from APGA before joining LP and securing nomination to run in the senate election.[5] Umeh appealed the judgement[6] and on 23 February 2023, just three days before the poll, the Court of Appeal in Awka affirmed the nomination of Umeh as the candidate of LP for the senate election.[7]

In the February 25, 2023 Senate election, Umeh polled 103,608 votes to beat other candidates including the incumbent Senator Uche Ekwunife of the PDP who scored 49,532 and the candidate of APGA Dozie Nwankwo who scored 69,702.[8] Ekwunife accepted defeat and congratulated Umeh.[9]

He was named the chairman, Senate committee on diaspora of the 10th senate on 8th August, 2023.[10]

References

  1. "Victor Umeh Receives Certificate Of Return". Channels. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. "APGA's Umeh wins Anambra Central rerun election". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2018-01-14. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  3. "Saraki Swears In Victor Umeh". Channels. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  4. Nseyen, Nsikak (2022-06-21). "Why I dumped APGA for Labour Party – Victor Umeh". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  5. Report, Agency (2023-01-28). "Court Sacks Victor Umeh As LP Senatorial Candidate". Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  6. "Senate: Victor Umeh goes to Appeal Court over disqualification". Vanguard. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  7. "Appeal court affirms Victor Umeh as LP senatorial candidate in Anambra". TheCable. 2023-02-23. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  8. Report, Agency (2023-02-28). "#NigeriaDecides2023: Umeh beats incumbent Ekwunife in Anambra senatorial election". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  9. "PDP's Ekwunife Congratulates LP's Victor Umeh after Defeat in Anambra Central – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  10. "Lawan, Yari, Tambuwal, Oshiomhole, Sani Musa, Others Emerge Senate Committee Chairmen - THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
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