The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia has dismissed the petitions of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Mao Ohuabunwa and his counterpart of the Labour Party, Nnamdi Iro-Orji, seeking the nullification of Senator Orji Kalu’s victory during the February 25 election, News About Nigeria reports.
The tribunal, therefore, upheld the victory of Senator Kalu who was elected to represent Abia-North Senatorial district in the last elections.
The judgement was delivered on Tuesday in a ruling given by a three-man panel led by Justice Samson Paul-Gang.
According to the tribunal, the petitions filed by the opposition parties lacked merit and thus, the tribunal upheld the election of Senator Orji noting that his election met with the Electoral Act’s stipulations, affirming his victory and that of the All Progressives Congress.
The tribunal judges also faulted the arguments of both petitioners that the election did not hold in over 120 polling units especially in Ohafia and Arochukwu Local Government Areas of the zone.
The petitioners, Iro-Orji and Ohuabunwa, who were the runner-up and third-place finishers respectively, argued that there were irregularities in the election that produce Kalu as winner, urging the court to annul it.
The Court also rejected the petitioners prayers that the total number of registered voters in the allegedly affected polling units was significantly more than the margin of victory between that of Kalu and the first and second runner up.
The tribunal, in its constitutional interpretation, also validated Kalu’s eligibility to contest the election stating that his trial and conviction were quashed by the Supreme Court.
Recall that, INEC declared Kalu as the winner of the senatorial election on February 25 after he got 30,805 votes to defeat Iro-Orji and Ohuabunwa, who received 27,540 and 15,175 votes, respectively.
Kalu is also presently serving as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation.
