Gabriel Suswam, a former Governor of Benue State, has been removed from the Senate by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja.
The appellate court, in a unanimous ruling by a three-member panel of Justices on Wednesday, stated that Suswam was not the legitimate winner of the senate election held in Benue North East on February 25.
It criticised the Benue State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal’s decision to re-elect Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Senate.
The tribunal overturned Emmanuel Udende’s All Progressives Congress (APC) election win.
According to the appellate court, the tribunal incorrectly analysed the material submitted to it by the parties in the dispute, resulting in an incorrect decision that sustained Suswam’s petition to challenge Udende’s election win.
As a result, the court overturned the tribunal’s decision, stating that it found validity in the APC candidate’s appeal.
The appeal court declared in its ruling issued by Justice Abimbola Osarugue Obaseki Adejumo, “The tribunal’s judgement delivered on 8/9/2023 is hereby set aside.”
“The return of the Appellant as the winner of the Benue North East senatorial election that was held on February 25 is hereby affirmed.
“Parties are to bear their respective cost.”
News About Nigeria gathered that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Udende as the winner of the senatorial election after he polled a total of 135,573 votes to defeat Senator Suswam, who garnered 112,231 votes.
Suswam, not satisfied with the outcome of the election, filed an appeal with the tribunal, claiming that the election was tainted by excessive voting, anomalies, manipulations, and results fabrication.
