Tribunal dismisses Nasarawa PDP lawmaker, orders new elections

October 2, 2023 Wale Ponnle

The return of Ovey John, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the validly elected representative of the Keffi East Constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA), has been declared invalid by the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which is based in Lafia.

Ovey John was named the winner of the elections on March 18 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.

In rendering its decision on Sunday in Lafia, the three-member panel, led by Justice Francisca Isong Nnang, found that INEC made a mistake by recognizing the PDP candidate as the winner while ignoring Isah Adamu from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Tribunal indicated that the margin by which Ovey led, at 1004 votes, was less than the total number of accredited voters in the four (4) polling places where the INEC declared the elections invalid.

Yarkade Primary School 003, Angwan Maiganga 014, Police Station 2, and Angwan Nepa within the constituency were the four affected polling units, and a rerun was ordered by the Justice Francisca Isong Nnang-led Tribunal to further resolve this disparity.

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Wale Ponnle

A passionate writer of everything politics in Nigeria with the goal and purpose of bringing authentic information and unbiased news to everyone everywhere.

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