Appeal Court Sacks PDP Lawmaker in Niger, Declares APC Candidate Winner

Appeal Court Sacks PDP Lawmaker in Niger, Declares APC Candidate Winner

  • A PDP lawmaker, Hon Suleiman Wanchiko, representing Bida I (North) State Constituency in Niger state has been sacked.
  • The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja agreed that Wanchiko ought to be disqualified from contesting the election having presented a forged testimonial to INEC
  • The appellate court declared Bako Kasim of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5-year-experience covering metro and government policy

FCT, Abuja - The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Hon Suleiman Wanchiko representing Bida I (North) State Constituency in Niger state.

The three-member panel led by Justice Bature Isa-Gafai declared Bako Kasim of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Niger State House of Assembly election.

Appeal Court sacks PDP lawmaker in Niger
Appeal Court sacks PDP lawmaker over forgery Photo Credit: Court of Appeal
Source: UGC

The appellate court held Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Wanchiko’s appeal was unmeritorious, The Nation reported.

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Justice Isa-Gafai agreed that Wanchiko ought to be disqualified from contesting the election having presented a forged testimonial to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Wanchiko, through his counsel, Aliyu Lemu, SAN, approached the Court of Appeal after ordering a re-run without him

The appellate court ruled that after the disqualification of Wanchiko, the proper order was to return Kasim as the winner of the poll and directed INEC to issue him a Certificate of Return.

Appeal Court sacks 11 PDP lawmakers in Plateau

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the PDP lost control of the Plateau State House of Assembly to the APC after the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked 11 of its lawmakers.

The panel led by Justice Okon Abang, gave the judgement in a unanimous decision on Friday, November, 24.

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Appeal court sacks Kaduna assembly speaker, details emerge

The appellate court said the PDP lawmakers scored wasted votes in the March 18 election because their party lacked structure. Justice Abang explained that the PDP could not sponsor candidates in the last election because the party violated section 177 of the 1999 constitution.

Appeal Court Sacks APC's Kaduna Assembly Speaker

The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja invalidated the election of Honourable Yusuf Dahiru Liman, the candidate of the APC and speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

In its judgment, the appellate court sacked the APC candidate and ordered a re-run in five polling units.

This comes after PDP's Hon Solomon Nuhu Katuka filed a petition before the tribunal challenging the election of the speaker, who represents Makera constituency in the House of Assembly. The PDP candidate informed the lower court that the speaker's election was rocked by gross irregularities, insisting he won the poll.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Adekunle Dada avatar

Adekunle Dada (Politics and Current Affairs Editor) Adekunle Dada is a trained journalist with over 7 years of working experience. He is also a Politics/Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a B.Sc. in Mass Communication From Lagos State University, Ojo. Adekunle previously worked at PM News, The Sun, and Within Nigeria where he expressed his journalistic skills with well-researched articles and features. In 2024, Adekunle obtained a certificate in advanced digital reporting from the Google News Initiative. He can be reached via adekunle.dada@corp.legit.ng.