Posted by The appeal submitted by Mohammed Nazeer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) disputing Shehu Saleh’s election for the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency was dismissed by the National Assembly Election appeal Tribunal (NAEPT) sitting in Minna.
Justice Angela Otaluka, the Tribunal’s presiding chairman, denied the plea and granted the petitioner N300,000.
Nazeer claimed election results were rigged in favor of the respondent, Shehu Sale, thus he petitioned the tribunal to declare him the victor of the February 25 polls.
He further argued that the respondent did not count the legitimate votes cast at the polls and that the election was plagued by anomalies and non-compliance with the electoral act.
After reviewing the case, Justice Angela Otaluka ruled that all of the arguments and facts presented to the Tribunal were without merit and hence the petition was dismissed.
A similar case brought by Sa’idu Isah of the PDP against Mahmud Abdullahi of the APC for the Agaie Federal Constituency was also dismissed by the Tribunal.
Isah asked the Tribunal to rule that he was the lawful electee to represent the Agaie/Lapai Federal Constituency in the National Assembly on February 25, claiming that he had received the most votes.
According to the petitioner, there were widespread irregularities and crises at the polls in both federal districts, some of which had never happened before.
After explaining that the petitioner had failed to provide evidence supporting the assertions made in his petition and the allegations of noncompliance, Justice Angela Otaluka ruled that the case should be dismissed.