ILORIN, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The National Assembly election petition tribunal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has upheld the March 28, 2015 election that returned the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kwara central senatorial candidate, Senator Bukola Saraki, to the Senate.
Senate President Bukola Saraki
Delivering his ruling on Tuesday in Ilorin, chairman of the three-man tribunal panel, Justice Josiah Majebi, in his two-hour ruling, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, for lacking merit, competence and substance.
The chairman said that the petitioner failed to prove his case that the last March 28 election that produced the respondent, Senator Saraki, was characterised by electoral malpractices that could warrant the dismissal of that election.
He also said that the petitioner failed to establish any basic fact that there were electoral malpractices in some wards of Ilorin South, Ilorin East and Asa local government councils of the senatorial district, adding that the demand for the cancellation of the results of the election in the affected local government councils was not tenable.
“In accordance with Electoral Act, any petition to election petition must be filed within the 21 days but the petitioner failed to file his petition within the specific period of the time of 21 days but instead filed outside the scheduled time and thus lacked merit that can warrant the cancellation of the election,” the tribunal said.
Justice Majebi also said that all the evidence raised by the petitioner that the election did not comply with the electoral act could not be substantiated, adding that all the evidences tendered before the tribunal were basically on hearsay and should not be admissible as true evidence that could negate the election of the respondent.
The chairman also said that the petitioner failed to establish the expert oral evidence on the forensic analysis put forward by the petitioner before the tribunal, adding that it could not be admitted as a factor to cancel the election.
He therefore dismissed the petition.
The chairman commended the parties in the case for their comportment and understanding throughout the proceedings of the case.
Credit: Daily Independent (Nigeria)
