Appeal Court sacks Ishaku Abbo as Senator

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reversed the election of the Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Ishaku Abbo.
Abbo was elected in February 2023 under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC).
The court, ruled in favour of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amos Yohanna as the truly elected Senator for Adamawa North.

Delivering judgment on Monday, the three-member panel presided over by Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Amos Yohanna as the duly elected lawmaker representing the area in the National Assembly.

The appellate vacated the tribunal judgment which had earlier affirmed Abbo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the senatorial election.

INEC had declared Abbo the winner of the February 25, 2023, parliamentary election.

But aggrieved by the electoral body’s decision, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yohanna, went to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.

In its ruling, the tribunal dismissed Yohanna’s petition for lacking in merit.

Not comfortable with the judgment of the tribunal, the PDP candidate, through his counsel Johnson Usman (SAN), approached the Appeal Court.

The Court of Appeal, after hearing arguments from parties, agreed with Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act.

The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from both parties and found that Yohanna and the PDP won the election by a majority of lawful votes.

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