Abia North District: Tribunal dismisses petition against Orji Kalu’s election

The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, on Thursday , dismissed a petition filed against the election of Sen. Orji Kalu as the Senator representing Abia North.

The petitioner, Anagha Anagha, the candidate of  All Grassroots Alliance (AGA) had filed the petition on grounds that he was unlawfully excluded from the February 23 Abia North Senatorial election.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Anagha urged the tribunal to annul the election of the former Abia governor and order a fresh one.

Delivering a unanimous judgment, Justice Cornelius Akintayo, the Chairman of the three-member panel, held that the first petitioner, Anagha has failed to prove his allegation of  exclusion by the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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Akintayo said that all records at the panel’s  disposal indicated that the second petitioner, AGA, party did not present any candidate for the senatorial election.

He held that the first petitioner , having not been a candidate of any party, lacked legal standing to present his case before the tribunal, and therefore dismissed his petition.

The panel had earlier granted the application of the AGA, seeking to strike out its name from the petition on grounds that the first petitioner was never nominated by it.

Meanwhile, the panel had on Tuesday fixed Sept. 9  for judgment in the  matter between Mr Mao Ohabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Sen. Kalu of the APC  over the same Abia North Senatorial District.