The election of Mark Useni, who represents the Takum/Donga/Ussa Federal Constituency, has been affirmed by the governorship and national assembly election petition tribunal, which is located in Taraba State’s capital city of Jalingo.
The candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barrister Istifanus Haruna Gbana, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rimam Shawulu, hauled Useni, the former speaker of the state Assembly, before the electoral tribunal convening in the state.
Both had pleaded with the tribunal to call off the election and mandate a new poll in the constituency.
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Additionally, they requested that Useni of the All Progressives Congress be prohibited from serving the constituency as a lawmaker by the tribunal, citing his failure to receive the required number of votes to be proclaimed the election’s victor.
Justice Benson Ogbu, the chairman of the panel, dismissed both of the applications, stating that “the petitions collapsed on failure of proof by the petitioners.”
According to him, Useni’s attorneys successfully demonstrated to the tribunal during the cross-examination that the APC candidate received legitimate votes and that “his election remains valid in the eyes of the law.”
In response to the decision, Useni called the judiciary the common man’s best hope and urged the two to work together to propel the constituency forward.
