Tribunal upholds Labour Party senator’s election in Edo

The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin on Friday upheld the victory of the senator representing Edo South, Neda Imasuen, in the February 25 election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Labour Party candidate as the winner of the election ahead of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen.

However, Iduoriyekemwen and his party approached the tribunal to nullify Imaseun’s victory on five grounds.

These are alleged non-qualification, over-voting, corrupt practice, non-compliance with the Electoral Act by INEC and party nomination.

The three-member panel led by Justice Yusuf Mohammed, however, dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

Justice Mohammed, who read the judgement, said the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Imasuen was not qualified to participate in the election.

He said the allegations of non-qualification, party nomination or sponsorship for an election were pre-election matters that could only be entertained by a Federal High Court.

He added that the petitioners also failed to prove that the senator did not score the majority of valid votes in the election.

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