The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna State has upheld the election of Lawal Usman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammad Abdullahi, had filed a petition challenging the election of Usman in four grounds.
He claimed that Usman was not nominated by his party in accordance with the Electoral Act, and was not properly sponsored by the PDP to contest the election.
The APC candidate also challenged the authenticity of Usman’s educational qualification as well as claimed that there was over-voting during the election.
However, the three-man panel led by Justice H.H. Kereng dismissed the petition on the grounds of lack of merit.
Justice Kereng, who read the verdict, explained that the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the PDP candidate’s National Examination Council (NECO) results and other academic qualifications he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were forged.
The Tribunal further explained that the petitioners could not prove that the first respondent was not duly elected by the majority of votes cast in the February 25 poll.
The Tribunal therefore dismissed the petition and upheld the election of Usman of the PDP as the duly elected Senator for Kaduna Central Senatorial District.
