ASABA/Nigeria: In a decisive ruling, the National Assembly and State Election Petition Tribunal in Asaba has dismissed the case filed by Ekpoto Ekpoto Emmanuel of the All Progressive Congress (APC) challenging the election of Rt. Hon. Thomas Ereyintomi on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 28, 2023 General Election.
Chairing the three-man panel of the tribunal, Justice Ogunsola delivered the judgment, unequivocally declaring that the petitioner’s case lacked merit. She further emphasized that the petitioner failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt.
Adding to the tribunal’s rationale, another panel member stated that the evidence presented by the petitioner was not admissible in the eyes of the law.
In their collective assessment, the Tribunal Judges concluded, “The Petitioners failed to call evidence unit by unit and ward by ward to establish malpractice in the election. The Petitioner in his pleadings did not demonstrate the discrepancy between the number of accredited voters, the lawful votes cast, and how it affected the outcome of the election. Any attempt to do this in his Written Address was of no consequence. The alleged forgery of the 3rd Respondent’s NECO was not established as there was a disclaimer from the issuing authority. Besides, no malfeasance could be inferred.”
The tribunal left no room for ambiguity, dismissing each and every relief in the petition, along with the petition itself. Additionally, they imposed a cost of five hundred thousand naira (N500,000) against the petitioner in favor of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents.
Speaking to journalists after the verdict, Counsel to the lawmaker, Robinson Arhiyo, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “It is a victory for democracy and for the electorate, who voted massively for Rt. Hon. Thomas Ereyintomi during the election.”
It is worth noting that INEC had declared Thomas Ereyintomi the winner of the election on March 2, having scored 20,155 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Omatseye Young Piero of the Labour Party (LP), who garnered 9,491 votes.
