The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal on Thursday affirmed the victory of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Jibrin Isah as duly elected to represent Kogi East Senatorial zone.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Isah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25, 2023 Kogi East Senatorial District election, but dissatisfied with the decision of the electoral umpire, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who came second in the election, Victor Adoji challenged the return of Isah on the ground that that polls were canceled in some polling units where the PVCs collected were more than the margin of win.
Adoji had prayed the election petitions Tribunal to nullify the victory of Isah and order a supplementary election in the affected 94 polling units in the Senatorial district.
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The tribunal led by Justice K.A. Orjiako, had in a unanimous decision, ordered a rerun election in the 94 polling units where there were alleged irregularities in the last general election.
Isah however, approached the Court of Appeal which onThursday,y upturned the decision of the lower Tribunal on grounds that the witness upon which the Election Tribunal relied its judgment on, was incompetent.
The court subsequently dismissed all the exhibits presented by the witness from the records, while setting aside the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal, and affirming Jibrin Isah’s victory.
Editor: Ken Eseni
