Shehu Saleh of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency, according to the appeal filed by Mohammed Nazeer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but it was rejected by the National Assembly Election appeal Tribunal, NAEPT, in Minna.
The case was rejected and the petitioner was given N300,000 by the tribunal’s presiding chairman, Justice Angela Otaluka.
Having received the majority of the votes in the election and asking the tribunal to proclaim him the legitimate victor, Nazeer had claimed that Shehu Sale, the respondent, had been given unfair advantage in the race.
Additionally, he said that the respondent failed to count the legitimate votes cast at the polls and that there were irregularities and violations of the electoral laws throughout the election.
After reviewing the petition, Justice Angela Otaluka ruled that all of the arguments made and the supporting documentation provided to the Tribunal were irrelevant, unimportant, and without value. She therefore dismissed the petition.
In a related event, the Tribunal denied a challenge submitted by Sa’idu Isah of the PDP for the Agaie Federal Constituency, which contested Mahmud Abdullahi’s APC victory.
Isah claimed that he received the majority of the votes cast in the National Assembly election held on February 25 to fill the seat for the Agaie/Lapai Federal Constituency and had petitioned the Tribunal to recognise him as the legitimate winner.
According to the petitioner, the majority of voting places in the two federal constituencies experienced anomalies and a crisis of unprecedented proportions during the election.
In her ruling, Justice Angela Otaluka stated that the petitioner had failed to substantiate his claims as set forth in his petition and had also failed to establish the charges of noncompliance. She then dismissed the suit.
