L
LequteMan
Guest
Nigeria - The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu has upheld the election of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
The tribunal Chairman, Justice Hildad Kwajafa, in his judgment, held that the petition filed by Mr Okey Ezea of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was incompetent and lacking in merit.
Kwajafa said that petitioners failed to prove their allegations of massive irregularities during the poll beyond reasonable doubts.
He said that the six witnesses from six polling units which the petitioners presented out of the 29 pleaded were not enough to prove allegations of malpractice beyond reasonable doubts.
The tribunal chairman pointed out that the state had 2,958 polling units, adding that presenting six witnesses to testify over what happened across the entire units is insufficient to help their case.
Kwajafa said that the petitioners did not sufficiently prove allegations of over voting and non-accreditation of voters with the card readers.
He held that the failure of the petitioners to tender the voters’ registers to identify the number of voters that participated in the election and allegations of over voting was did not also help their case.
“The voters’ register is the only document that can determine the number of voters that participated in an election and the petitioners could not tender it to prove their allegations.”
Kwajafa, therefore, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and upheld the election of Ugwuanyi, saying was duly returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
NAN
The tribunal Chairman, Justice Hildad Kwajafa, in his judgment, held that the petition filed by Mr Okey Ezea of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was incompetent and lacking in merit.
Kwajafa said that petitioners failed to prove their allegations of massive irregularities during the poll beyond reasonable doubts.
He said that the six witnesses from six polling units which the petitioners presented out of the 29 pleaded were not enough to prove allegations of malpractice beyond reasonable doubts.
The tribunal chairman pointed out that the state had 2,958 polling units, adding that presenting six witnesses to testify over what happened across the entire units is insufficient to help their case.
Kwajafa said that the petitioners did not sufficiently prove allegations of over voting and non-accreditation of voters with the card readers.
He held that the failure of the petitioners to tender the voters’ registers to identify the number of voters that participated in the election and allegations of over voting was did not also help their case.
“The voters’ register is the only document that can determine the number of voters that participated in an election and the petitioners could not tender it to prove their allegations.”
Kwajafa, therefore, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and upheld the election of Ugwuanyi, saying was duly returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
NAN
