As electoral petition tribunals began rendering decisions on cases across the nation, the All Progressives Congress lost two seats in the National Assembly while the Peoples Democratic Party gained another seat.
The People’s Democratic Party’s Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was pronounced the winner of the state’s senate race on February 25 by the race Petition Tribunal, which was in Lokoja on Wednesday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (third respondent) was directed to revoke Abubakar Ohere’s certificate of return after the court dismissed him from the All Progressives Congress. The panel further ordered that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan receive a certificate of return.
The results for Ohere were allegedly inflated in nine polling units of the Ajaokuta LGA, according to the Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, while those for Natasha were allegedly purposefully understated in the same nine polling units by the INEC ward collation officers. He added that Natasha’s results from three further voting units in the same LGA were purposefully not entered.
But in a statement on Wednesday, Ohere asked his followers to be calm, promising to talk with them and utilize his right to appeal the ruling within the allotted time frame.
“Natasha’s results in the nine polling units of Ajaokuta LGA were 1073, against the 77 recorded by the Ward Collation officers, while those of the APC candidate, Abubakar Ohere, were exaggerated to 1553, against the true figure of 1031, according to the tribunal.
The tribunal is further persuaded that the petitioners’ 996 votes in the Ward Collation Center for Polling Units 009, 046, and 049 in Ganaja Village, Ajaokuta LGA, were omitted on purpose.
According to the tribunal, collation officers are not required to disapprove results that presiding officers present from polling places in elections that largely adhered to the electoral standards.
“The petitioner’s concerns are hereby addressed in his or her favor, and following the necessary rectification, Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan (PDP), who received 54,074 votes against Abubakar Ohere’s (APC), 51,291, is hereby proclaimed the legitimate victor,” the statement said.
In addition, the court chastised INEC for willfully straying from its responsibility of holding a free and fair election in order to collude with political parties to thwart the decision of the people.
For “subverting justice” in the senatorial election, it commanded INEC to give Natasha N500,000.
Johnson Usman (SAN), the attorney for Akpoti-Uduagan, responded to the ruling by saying, “This is a victory for the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District, a victory for Kogi as a whole, and a victory for the election processes.”
The district is home to Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
Ohere replies.
Ohere said he was greatly shocked when he learned of the Tribunal’s decision in a statement given to newsmen in Lokoja on Wednesday.
The statement said, “I firmly believe that decision is in violation of Paragraph 15 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act of 2022.
In actuality, I cited an Appellate Courts ruling in front of the Tribunal through my legal team, which stated that a respondent is not required to file a cross-petition to contest votes in an election petition if the basis for doing so is the “majority of lawful votes.”
“I ask all of my supporters to be calm and quiet since their mandate is still in effect while I wait for my legal team to fully explain the ruling to me. I am well aware of my right to file an appeal with the Court of Appeal, which I will do after careful consideration and discussion with my attorneys. I implore those who support me not to be alarmed and to have faith in our ability to succeed.
Additional voting in Delta
The senator representing Delta South, Senator Thomas Onowakpo of the APC, was also dismissed by the Senate Election Tribunal on Wednesday in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
The PDP candidate, Mr. Michael Diden, had petitioned the APC candidate, pleading for disqualification and claiming that the election authority had broken the election Act before announcing the APC winner.
After almost seven hours of deliberation, Justice Catherine Ogunsola, the tribunal’s chair, decided that Onowakpo’s certificate of return should be revoked.
The court mandated that INEC hold additional elections in the Warri South Local Government Area within 90 days.
Following the ruling, INEC attorney Clark Ekpebe stated that they will examine the decision and still had time to appeal.
“The verdict has been rendered, and we will go home and study the judgment,” he declared. We must revoke his certificate of return and hold a new election within 90 days, according to the request.
“The 90 days have 60 days left. Remember that we have the option of appealing the decision.
dismissal of the PDP petition
On Wednesday, the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal rejected Joseph Tegbe’s (PDP) petition over the Oyo South Senatorial District election.
The Ibadan-based tribunal determined that Sarafadeen Ali of the APC was entitled to win.
Tegbe and his party reportedly disputed Ali’s election victory on February 25 according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
With 111,513 votes, Ali defeated Tegbe, who received 92,481 votes, and INEC proclaimed him the winner.
The petitioners claimed that the election that resulted in Ali’s victory was tainted by excessive voting, anomalies, election malpractices, and a failure to follow the requirements of the Electoral Act of 2022.
Tegbe had pleaded with the court to nullify Ali’s declaration as the election’s victor since he had not received the majority of legal votes cast in the polls and order a rerun.
According to NAN, Tegbe and the PDP called 32 witnesses in support of their appeal, compared to 12 witnesses apiece for Ali and the APC.
There were no witnesses cited by INEC.
The three-person tribunal upheld Ali’s triumph in a unanimous decision that was read by Justice I. Okpe, one of the panel’s three members.
It gave the three respondents—Ali, the APC, and INEC—a cost award of N500,000 against the petitioners.
“Overvoting cannot be established on its own. The voter list is a crucial component of the overvoting evidence.
The judge stated, “The burden of proof is on the petitioner in an election petition action, and the standard of proof is not minimal.”
Okpe continued by stating that the tribunal had noticed that the majority of the petitioners’ witnesses had provided mass-produced statements with nearly identical signatures.
The petitioners have not provided any solid evidence that the tribunal may depend on to support their claim that there was excessive voting in the Oyo South Senatorial election, which would justify Tegbe’s request for a declaration.
“The problem is thereby settled in the respondents’ favor.
The tribunal declared, “The petition is dismissed, and a cost of N500,000 is granted against the petitioners in favor of the respondents.”
The APC petition was denied
The appeal submitted by Muhammad Sa’idu-Kiru of the APC contesting the win of Abdulmumini Kofa of the NNPP, a member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency, was denied on Wednesday by the National and State House of Assembly Election appeal Tribunal, which is based in Kano, the capital of Kano State.
According to the petitioner, there were numerous irregularities in the election, including voting in excess and not in accordance with the 2022 electoral statute.
Through his attorney, Haruna Saleh, Sa’idu-Kiru pleaded with the judge to declare him the winner and declare Kofa’s election invalid.
INEC, Kofa, and NNPP are named as respondents in the petition.
The three-judge panel, presided over by Justice Ngozi Flora, dismissed the plea, however, in a unanimity, citing its inadequacy and lack of substance.
She claimed that the evidence presented before the tribunal by both sides demonstrated that Kofa left his position as the Federal Housing Authority’s executive secretary 30 days before the election on February 25 and that he is a member of the NNPP.
“There were inconsistencies in the petitioner’s declaration under oath, and the petitioner failed to present convincing witnesses to indicate that some voters were denied the right to vote during the conduct of the election,” Flora claimed.
Flora ruled that the petitioner had utterly failed to establish that there had been violence, excessive voting, or non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act’s requirements.
In favor of all respondents, she granted a total of N100,000 against the petitioner.
Alhaji Alhassan Yaryasa, an APC chieftain and former coordinator of the Tinubu Campaign Organization for Kano South, responded to the ruling by saying that he was not surprised by it given that Kofa was well-liked in the district because he performed well while he was a member of the APC.
In contrast to earlier years when politicians would utilize any and all tactics to win elections, politics now is dynamic.
“Take a look at Barau I. Jibrin’s election as deputy senate president. He performed well as well, which is why he received a second term. As a result, individuals are wiser than ever. Yaryasa remarked, “They choose somebody they believe will perform.
Abia LP Rep was fired
The election of Amobi Ogah of the Labour Party to represent the Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency was invalidated on Wednesday by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which was sitting in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, for violating the Electoral Act.
The three-member Panel 1 of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal delivered its ruling in the petition labeled EPT/AB/HR/8/2023 on Wednesday in Umuahia, concluding that the Labour Party candidate did not follow the Electoral Act’s requirements.
“How a candidate is sponsored by a political party is both before and after the election, and there is no proof that the respondent gave INEC 21 days’ notice before holding its primary election, the court ruled.
The third respondent has always maintained that the primaries are a party internal matter, and neither a date nor proof of the primaries have been presented to us.
The results computed by the petition are correct, and the results computed by the first respondent are disregarded, the tribunal determined after tabulating the data.
Ogah had contended that the fact that Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha had accepted the ministerial post was evidence that she had given up on her petition. But in her decision, the panel rejected the lawmaker’s position.
We believe that Section 66 does not apply in this case since the petitioner is not a member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s legislature. Being a member of two branches of the government is an instance that the law forbids, the court found.
On February 28, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced that Labour Party candidate Ogah had won the election for the Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency with a total of 11,769 votes against current Minister of State for Labor and Employment Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who the commission said received a total of 8,752 votes.
Unhappy with the outcome, Onyejeocha petitioned the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, asking for seven reliefs to have Ogah’s election declared invalid.
