The Court of Appeal in Abuja has sacked the lawmaker representing Adamawa North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Ishaku Abbo.
The appellate vacated the tribunal judgment which had earlier affirmed Abbo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the senatorial election.
The Court voided the election of Abbo of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in favour of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amos Yohanna.
Delivering judgment on Monday, the three-member panel presided over by Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Amos Yohanna as the duly elected lawmaker representing the area in the National Assembly.
INEC had declared Abbo the winner of the February 25, 2023, parliamentary election.
But aggrieved by the electoral body’s decision, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yohanna, went to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.
In its ruling, the tribunal dismissed Yohanna’s petition for lacking in merit.
Not comfortable with the judgment of the tribunal, the PDP candidate, through his counsel Johnson Usman (SAN), approached the Appeal Court.
The Court of Appeal, after hearing arguments from parties, agreed with Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from both parties and found that Yohanna and the PDP won the election by a majority of lawful votes.
