NIGERIA SENATE PRESIDENT SENT PACKIN
NIGERIA SENATE PRESIDENT SENT PACKING The
election petition
tribunal sitting in Makurdi on Saturday nullified the election of Senate President David mark. Delivering a three-hour judgment, Justice C.I. Oriri declared that the
results for Agagu and Okpokwu local
government areas of Benue State, which were earlier cancelled by the Returning Officer, had disenfranchised 139, 466 voters from electing their representative. The tribunal said the results from seven other local government areas were not enough to produce a representative. It, therefore, ordered INEC to conduct fresh and credible
elections in Agagu and Okpokwu local government areas within 60 days of the judgment. The tribunal, also upheld the results of the seven other local governments with Usman Abubakar of the ANPP scoring 172,636 against the 98,029 votes scored by David Mark of the PDP. The results from the two local government areas where elections would be conducted should be added to the results of the seven to determine the winner, the tribunal ordered. The tribunal also held that the Returning Officer had a constitutional right to cancel the elections in the two affected local government areas as he did, but could not recall the said canceled votes in Makurdi. Agency reports say the petitioner, Abubakar, was present at the tribunal to hear the verdict. The tribunal had earlier nullified the elections of two other senators of Benue, former Gov. George Akume and Joseph Akhagerger. Meanwhile Senator David Mark says the verdict of the Benue State Election Petitions Tribunal which ordered fresh elections in two of the nine local governments that make up his constituency has provided him a fertile opportunity to seek further interpretation at the Appeal Court. The former vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has hailed nullification of the election of the Senate President, Senator David Mark, by the Election Tribunal in Benue State, saying the judgment by the tribunal had further proved that the geneal elections which took place in April 2007 were a big sham. Atiku maintained that the fall of David Mark is a statement by the courts that it is bye-bye to impunity in our democracy. And that today in Nigeria, no big man is beyound reproach and politicians should learn to win honestly. of the judiciary as the last hope of the common man. According to the Action Congress (AC) leader in the state, “I give kudos to the judiciary for speaking the truth at all times. The judgment has further rekindled the hope of the people in that arm of government.It also shows that you cannot steal the peoples’ mandate and sit on it.
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