Six petitions have been submitted by the Plateau State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal about the outcome of the recently held general elections on February 25, 2023.
According to DRILLOGIST, five of the petitions are for the House of Representatives, while one is for the Plateau North Senatorial zone.
Ex parte applications were used by all six petitioners to present request
Government petition
The governing APC candidate, Ibrahim Baba Hassan, filed a petition to overturn Musa Agah Avia’s win in the Jos North/Bassa House of Representatives election.
His attorney, Ishaq Magaji (SAN), had requested the tribunal’s authority to require the independent National Electoral Commission to provide him with access to records relevant to the federal constituency election for scrutiny in an ex parte application.
They provide a list of polling unit results that were submitted by the BVAS machine.
Baba Hassan publishing information for all units in the Federal constituency.
Baba Hassan also sought publishing information for all units in the Federal constituency.
Lawyer Magaji (SAN) is also representing Chris Giwa (APC) in his challenge to Dr Simon Mwatkwon Fwet for the Plateau North Senate seat.
Chrysanthus Ziphion John of the Peoples Democratic Party is contesting Yusuf Adamu Gagdi’s election to the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency seat.
Solomon Maren (PDP), a sitting member representing the Mangu/Bokkos Federal constituency, has also petitioned INEC.
Ibrahim Kanje Bawa of the PDP is also disputing the win of the incumbent deputy speaker of the house of representatives Ahmed Idris Wase for the Wase Federal constituency, claiming his defeat as a fruit of “superior rigging”.
Via an experte application by his Attorney B.I Shehu, Fom Dalyop Chollom of the Labour Party (LP) is also holding INEC culpable in his defeat, demanding the release of documents used in the February 25th election.
In fact, this was the only point raised by all of the petitioners before the Election Tribunal.
In its unanimous judgement in response to all ex parte petitions, the Tribunal deemed all of their requests as meritorious and granted them and instructed INEC to make accessible to the parties access to all of the papers sought for examination.
Nevertheless, no date has been scheduled for the tribunal’s pre-trial meeting, which will set in motion the procedure for the Tribunal’s full sitting.
