Clean sweep as Tribunal sacks 21 Rivers lawmakers

About 48 hours after the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Governor Nyesome Wike from office, and ordered for fresh election to fill the post, the Rivers State National and State Assembly Petitions Tribunal in Abuja on Monday nullified the election of 21 members of the State House of Assembly.
Among those sacked was Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Owaji Ibani from Andoni constituency.
The Rivers State House of Assembly is made up of 32 members.
Four different panels each with two members, are sitting in Abuja over the National and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.

Read also: Breaking… Rivers Tribunal Sacks Gov Wike

The panel, which sat at the FCT High Court in Jabi, also ordered fresh elections within 90 days, citing irregularities and violence among other electoral malpractices as issues which warranted the nullification of the lawmakers’ election victory.
The petition was brought by candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the lawmakers, who were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 11 state assembly elections.
The affected lawmakers have indicated their intention to appeal the verdict.

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