Tribunals: PDP gains one, APC loses two seats in National Assembly

As electoral petition tribunals around the nation started issuing rulings on cases, 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 won the state’s senate race on February 25 according to the Lokoja-based race Petition Tribunal, which met on Wednesday.

The court dismissed Abubakar Ohere from the All Progressives Congress and then ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (third respondent) to revoke the certificate of return it had given to Ohere. Additionally, the panel mandated that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan receive a certificate of return.

Ohere results were allegedly inflated in nine polling units of the Ajaokuta LGA, while those for Natasha were allegedly purposefully decreased in those same nine polling units by the INEC ward collation staff, according to the Tribunal Chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, who read the unanimous ruling of the three-man panel. Additionally, he claimed that Natasha’s results from three additional polling units were purposefully not entered in the same LGA.

In contrast, Ohere urged his followers to remain calm in a statement on Wednesday, promising to talk with them and utilize his right to appeal the ruling within the allotted time frame.

The results of Natasha in the nine polling places of the Ajaokuta LGA were 1073, as opposed to the 77 recorded by the Ward Collation officials, while those of the APC candidate, Abubakar Ohere, were inflated to 1553, as opposed to the true number of 1031.

The tribunal is further satisfied that the 996 votes cast by the petitioners in the Ganaja village, Ajaokuta LGA, polling units 009, 046, and 049 were purposefully not registered at the Ward Collation Center.

The panel ruled that collation officers are not required to disapprove results that presiding officers submit from polling places in elections that largely adhered to the electoral guidelines.

After making the necessary corrections, Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan (PDP), who received 54,074 votes versus Abubakar Ohere (APC), who received 51,291, is now certified the authentic winner, the statement said. “The problems highlighted by the petitioner are hereby resolved in favor of the petitioner.”

The court also reprimanded INEC for willfully deviating from its responsibility to hold free and fair elections in order to collude with political parties to thwart the decision of the people.

As punishment for “subverting justice” in the senatorial election, it mandated that INEC pay Natasha N500,000.

“This is a success for the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District, a victory for Kogi in general, and a victory for the election procedures,” stated Johnson Usman (SAN), the attorney for Akpoti-Uduagan, in response to the judgment.

Yahaya Bello, the governor of Kogi State, is a native of the area.

Ohere responds

Ohere stated in a statement provided to newsmen in Lokoja on Wednesday that he was deeply shocked by the Tribunal’s decision.

I firmly believe that judgment violates Paragraph 15 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act of 2022, it stated.

In actuality, I argued before the Tribunal via my legal team that the Appellate Courts’ ruling that a respondent is not required to file a cross-petition in order to contest votes in an election petition if the basis for doing so is the “majority of lawful votes” is true.

“While I wait for my legal team to fully explain the verdict to me, I urge all of my followers to be calm and peaceful since their mandate is still valid. I am aware that I have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal, and I will do so after seeking the advice of my attorneys. I kindly ask my fans not to worry and to have faith in our ability to make things right.

Supplemental elections in Delta

Sen. Thomas Onowakpo of the APC, who represents Delta South, was also dismissed by the Senate Election Tribunal on Wednesday in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.

Mr. Michael Diden, the PDP candidate, had petitioned the APC candidate, pleading for the disqualification of the APC candidate and claiming that the election body had broken the election Act before announcing the APC winner.

Onowakpo’s certificate of return should be revoked, the Tribunal Chairman, Justice Catherine Ogunsola, said after almost seven hours of deliberation.

In accordance with the tribunal’s directive, INEC must hold further elections in the Warri South Local Government Area within 90 days.

Clark Ekpebe, an attorney for INEC, said in a statement shortly after the verdict that they would analyze it and that they still had time to appeal.

The verdict has been delivered, and we’ll go home and analyze it, he said. We must remove his certificate of return and hold a new election within 90 days, according to the request.

In the 90 days, there are 60 days. Don’t forget that we can appeal the decision.

dismissed PDP petition

On Wednesday, the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal dismissed Joseph Tegbe’s (PDP) petition regarding the Oyo South Senatorial District election.

The Ibadan-based tribunal determined that Sarafadeen Ali of the APC’s victory was legitimate.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Tegbe and his party contested Ali’s election victory on February 25.

After Ali received 111,513 votes to defeat Tegbe’s 92,481 votes, INEC proclaimed Ali the winner.

The petitioners claimed that violations of the Electoral Act of 2022, including excessive voting, anomalies, election malpractices, and over-voting, marred the election that resulted in Ali’s victory.

Tegbe had requested that the court deem Ali’s declaration as the election winner unlawful since he did not receive the majority of the valid votes cast in the election and order a repeat.

According to NAN, Ali and the APC each called 12 witnesses, compared to 32 witnesses called by Tegbe and the PDP in support of their appeal.

INEC did not present any witnesses.

Ali’s triumph was maintained by the tribunal in a unanimous decision that was read by Justice I. Okpe, one of the three judges on the three-person panel.

In favor of the three respondents—Ali, APC, and INEC—it awarded costs of N500,000 against the petitioners.

It is impossible to prove overvoting on its own. The voter list is a crucial component of the evidence of excessive voting.

The judge stated that the petitioner bears the burden of proof since “the bar of proof is not minimum in an election petition matter.”

Okpe added that the tribunal saw that the majority of the petitioners’ witnesses’ testimonies were mass-produced and that their signatures were remarkably similar.

“The petitioners have failed to present any convincing evidence that the tribunal may depend on that there was excessive voting in the Oyo South Senatorial election, which would justify Tegbe’s requested declaration.

“As a result, the responses are the winners in this situation.

The case is rejected, and the tribunal awarded the respondents N500,000 in costs against the petitioners.

Refusing the APC petition

Abdulmumini Kofa of the NNPP won the election to represent the Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency, but Muhammad Sa’idu-Kiru of the APC filed a case disputing that outcome. The National and State House of Assembly Election case Tribunal, which has its headquarters in Kano, the capital of Kano State, denied the plea on Wednesday.

The petitioner claimed that a number of anomalies, including thuggery, violence, excessive voting, and disregard for the 2022 electoral act, marred the election.

Through the assistance of his attorney, Haruna Saleh, Sa’idu-Kiru requested that the court declare him the winner and void Kofa’s election.

INEC, Kofa, and NNPP are the petition’s respondents.

However, the three-judge panel, presided over by Justice Ngozi Flora, unanimously decided to dismiss the appeal due to its lack of merit and ineptitude.

A member of the NNPP, Kofa left his position as Executive Secretary of the Federal Housing Authority 30 days prior to the election on February 25, according to documents presented before the tribunal by both parties, she claimed.

“The petitioner’s statement under oath contained inconsistencies, and the petitioner failed to call credible witnesses to establish that certain voters were disenfranchised during the conduct of the election,” claimed Flora.

According to Flora, the petitioner failed horribly to demonstrate that there was violence, excessive voting, or non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act’s requirements.

She granted each respondent a sum of N100,000 while rejecting the petitioner’s request.

Alhaji Alhassan Yaryasa, a chieftain of the APC and a 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.

“Unlike in the past, when politicians would use any and all tactics to win elections, politics is dynamic now.

“Observe the selection of Barau I. Jibrin as Deputy Senate President. He performed well as well, which led to his election again. Therefore, individuals nowadays are wiser than ever. They choose those they believe will perform, Yaryasa stated.

Rep of Abia LP was fired

On account of a violation of the Electoral Act, the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which is based in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, invalidated Amobi Ogah’s election as the Labour Party’s representative for the Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency on Wednesday.

The three-member Panel 1 of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal handed down its ruling in the case labeled EPT/AB/HR/8/2023 on Wednesday in Umuahia, finding that the Labour Party candidate had broken the Electoral Act’s rules.

There is no proof that the respondent gave INEC 21 days’ notice before holding its primary election, which is how a candidate is sponsored by a political party both before and after the election.

“No date for the primaries was presented to us; there was no proof of the primaries, and the third respondent has always maintained that it is a party internal matter.

The tribunal decided, “We have tabulated and found that the results computed by the petition are correct and the results computed by the 1st respondent are dis-countenanced.”

Ogah had stated that accepting Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha’s appointment as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was evidence that she had given up on her appeal. However, the tribunal rejected the lawmaker’s submission in her decision.

Because the petitioner is not a member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s legislature, we believe that Section 66 does not apply in this case. Being a part of two branches of the government is an illegal situation, the court found.

On February 28, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced that Ogah, a candidate for the Labour Party, had won the election for the Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency with a total of 11,769 votes against Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the incumbent Minister of State for Labor and Employment, who the commission said received a total of 8,752 votes.

Onyejeocha, dissatisfied with the outcome, petitioned the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, asking for seven reliefs, including the annulment of Ogah’s election.