The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded National Assembly election, Honourable Michael Diden has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, Delta State.
Diden and his party, the PDP, in their petition marked EPT/DT/SEN/ 01/2023, are asking the tribunal to void INEC’s declaration of candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Ewomazino Thomas Joel-Onowakpo as Senator-elect.
They predicated their request on the grounds that Joel-Onowakpo “was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast at the election” and that his election “was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
In the petition dated and filed on March 17, 2023, by their team of lawyers led by Ayo Asala, the petitioners amongst others are seeking an order of the tribunal “collating the results of the election conducted in Warri South Local Government Area to the lawful votes recorded in favour of the parties and declare the winner of the election based on the collation”.
The Returning Officer for Delta South Senatorial election, Prof. Anthony Peretimina, last month, had announced the APC’s candidate as the winner having scored a total of 49, 955 votes cast and also announced PDP’s candidate in second place having polled a total of 47, 656 votes cast.
But, the petitioners faulted the Returning Officer for not complying with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and the extant regulations, guidelines and manual for election officials in the collation and declaration of the final results in the senatorial district.
According to them, election was held in all the eight LGAs consisting of the Delta South Senatorial District, but INEC refused to include results from Warri South LGA in its final computation of results and subsequent declaration of the APC as the winner of the senatorial election in the district.
The petitioners claimed that the action of INEC despite protests from petitioners’ agents amounts to a breach of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines.
The petitioners claimed that results of contestants in the 11 wards in Warri South Local Government Area based on collation from form EC8B (1) revealed that APC polled 3,057 votes; PDP-10,610 and the other political parties polled 9,357.
“The petitioners shall contend at the hearing that after the collation of the valid votes from Warri South local government area which was unlawfully excluded from the computation of the final result by the 1st respondent, the petitioners scored a majority valid votes of 58,266 as against the 2nd respondent’s valid votes of 53,012 and that having scored the majority of the valid and lawful votes cast at the said elections, the 1st petitioner is the winner of the said election and duly elected and returned as the Senator representing Delta South Senatorial district in the National Assembly.
“The petitioners urge that it may also be determined and thus declared that the 2nd respondent was not duly elected or returned by the majority of lawful votes cast at the Delta South Senatorial election held on February 25, 2023.
“The petitioners also urge that it may be determined and thus declared that by the lawful votes cast at the Delta South Senatorial election held on February 25, 2023, the 1st petitioner, Diden Michael of the PDP, the 2nd petitioner, ought to have been returned and should be returned as the duly elected Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State.”
According to the petition, the total number of registered voters in Warri South Local Government Area where INEC claimed that the total election conducted therein was cancelled and therefore not collated for the purpose of the final declaration is 187,140, while the total number of collected Permanent Voters Card (PVC) from Warri South Local Government Area where election did not hold and/or was cancelled is 162,082.
The petitioners averred that from the margin of lead between the 1st petitioner and the 2nd respondent, which is 2,299, it is very clear that the number of registered voters and/or numbers of collected PVCs from Warri South exceeded the margin of lead between the 1st Petitioner and the 2nd respondent.
“The petitioners state that Warri South Local Government Area constitutes part of the strongholds of the petitioners where they enjoy massive support of the electorates. Failure of the 1st Respondent to conduct a supplementary election in Warri South Local Government Area after the purported cancellation of the result from all the polling units in the Local Government Area has denied the petitioners substantial votes that would have enabled the petitioners to win the election.
“The petitioners state that since the margin of lead between the 1st petitioner that scored 47,656 votes and the 2nd respondent that scored 49,955 votes is 2,299, the 1st respondent ought to have declared the election inconclusive in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the regulations and guidelines for the 2023 elections issued by the 1st respondent.
“The petitioners state that the failure to hold a supplementary election in Warri South Local Government Area with a voting strength of 162,082 being the numbers of people that collected PVCs and therefore eligible to vote has substantially affected the result of the election in the Delta South Senatorial District having regard to the margin of lead of 2,299 between the 1st petitioner and 2nd respondent in the election.”
Petitioners, therefore, prayed the tribunal to declare that the 2nd respondent was not duly elected or returned by the majority of lawful votes cast at the senatorial election into the Delta South Senatorial District held on February 25, 2023.
“A declaration that the decision of the 1st respondent to cancel and exclude the result of the election duly conducted in Warri South Local Government Area, being one of the eight Local Government Areas making up Delta South Senatorial District, is wrongful and constitutes substantial non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“An order declaring as duly elected and returned the 1st petitioner, Diden Michael as the Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District having scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the said election held on February 25, 2023.
“An order setting aside the Certificate of Return issued to the 2nd respondent by the 1st respondent in respect of the senatorial election into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for Delta South Senatorial District having not been duly elected by a majority of lawful votes at the said election.
“An order directing the 1st Respondent to issue a Certificate of Return to the 1st petitioner, Diden Michael as the duly elected Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District in Delta State.
“Or in the Alternative, the petitioner prays, that it may be determined and thus determined that the 2nd respondent was not duly elected or returned by the majority of lawful votes cast at the election into Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State held on February 25, 2023, by reason of failure to conduct supplementary election in Warri South Local Government Area where the election did not hold and/or was cancelled and that the senatorial election in Delta South Senatorial District was inconclusive.
“That it may be determined and thus determined that the election into Delta South Senatorial District of Delta State held on February 25, 2023, be declared inconclusive and a supplementary election be held in Warri South Local Government Area, where election did not hold and/or cancelled in line with the provisions of Electoral Act 2022, regulations and guidelines and the manual for Electoral Officials issued by the 1st respondent for the election.
“An order setting aside the Certificate of Return issued to the 2nd respondent by the 1st respondent in respect of the senatorial election into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for Delta South Senatorial District having not been duly elected by the majority of lawful votes at the said election.”
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