BREAKING: Court Sacks PDP’s Suswam From Senate, Affirms APC’s Udende As Winner
- The former governor of Benue State and serving senator, Gabriel Suswam, has been sacked from his legislative seat at the Senate by the appellate court
- The appellate court affirmed the victory of Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congres (APC)
- The ruling by Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo after the election petition tribunal declared Suswam the winner
Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over 9 years of experience covering political events, civil society, courts and metro
FCT, Abuja - The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ruled to remove Gabriel Suswam, the former governor of Benue state, from his position as the Senator representing the Benue North East Senatorial District.
As reported by The Nation, a unanimous decision on Wednesday, November 1, by a three-member panel determined that Suswam was not the rightful winner of the senatorial election on February 25.
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The Court of Appeal found fault with the prior judgment of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which had previously upheld Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election and overturned the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) declaration of Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the victor.
As a result, the Court of Appeal invalidated Suswam's certificate of return and instructed INEC to issue a new certificate of return to Udende.
Appellate court ruling
The court concluded that the tribunal had not adequately assessed the evidence presented by the parties during Suswam's petition and had reached an incorrect conclusion in favour of Suswam, who had challenged Udende's election victory.
Consequently, the court allowed Udende's appeal and annulled the tribunal's decision.
The ruling by Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo, said:
“The judgement of the tribunal delivered on September 8 is hereby set aside.
“The return of the appellant as the winner of the Benue North East senatorial election that was held on February 25 is hereby affirmed.”
Court of appeal sacks PDP senator, House of Reps member
Similarly, the appellate court in Abuja has nullified Simon Mwadkwon's victory as the senator representing Plateau North Senatorial District, citing the PDP's failure to nominate him validly.
The court ruled that the PDP did not comply with court orders, as 12 local government areas did not participate in the congress.
Consequently, a rerun for the Plateau North Senatorial seat has been ordered to be conducted within 90 days.
Meanwhile, another panel at the appellate court nullified the victory of PDP's Musa Avia in the House of Representatives.
Source: Legit.ng
