Tribunal upholds PDP senator’s election in Kaduna central

The National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna State on Saturday affirmed the election of Senator Lawal Adamu-Usman as the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abdullahi Muhammad-Sani, challenged Adamu-Usman’s victory in the February 25 election on four grounds.

He approached the tribunal to nullify the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate’s victory for alleged school certificate forgery, over-voting, non-compliance with the electoral act by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the nomination of the first respondent by the PDP.

The three-member panel led by Justice H.H. Kereng dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

Justice Kereng, who read the judgement, said the petitioner failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Adamu-Usman’s National Examination Council (NECO) results and other school certificates were forged.

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

The judge said: “The elections and return of the first respondent is hereby affirmed. This petition is hereby dismissed.”

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