BREAKING: Tribunal Throws Out Two Petitions With Strong Reason (DETAILS)

BREAKING: Tribunal Throws Out Two Petitions With Strong Reason (DETAILS)

The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal convened in Kaduna State has upheld the integrity of the electoral process by dismissing the petitions lodged against two members of the House of Representatives from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On Saturday, the tribunal ruled to reject the petitions that had been brought against David Umar Gurara, the representative of the Kachia/Kagarko Federal constituency, and Hon. Bashir Shadow, who serves as the member for the Kauru Federal Constituency.

Both of these PDP legislators had been duly elected in the House of Representatives election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission on February 25, 2023.

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The petitions were initiated against these two lawmakers by candidates from the All Progressives Congress (APC), namely Gabriel Haar Zock and Mukhtar Zakari.

Gabriel’s petition contended that elections had not taken place in 43 polling units. He urged the tribunal to invalidate INEC’s declaration and call for fresh elections.

In the case of Mukhtar Zakari, he lodged a petition against Shadow, alleging that Shadow had presented a forged school certificate. Mukhtar requested the tribunal to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue him a certificate of return on the grounds that he had secured the second position in the election.

In delivering the verdict for the petition filed by Gabriel Haar Zock, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice H.H Kereng, as well as delivering the judgment in David Umar Gurara’s petition, declared that the petitioner had not presented credible evidence to substantiate his claims. The petitions were dismissed in their entirety.

Furthermore, while addressing Mukhtar Zakari’s petition against Bashir Shadow, Justice Hon Justice Abdu Maiwada Abubakar dismissed the petition on the basis of lacking merit.

Kassai Jessy, one of the lead counsels representing the two respondents, noted that the tribunal dismissed the petitions from the two petitioners due to their lack of merit.

It’s noteworthy that the tribunal, displaying a sense of leniency, chose not to impose fines against the petitioners despite their petitions being deemed a waste of the tribunal’s time.