Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Plateau state governorship candidate in the 2019 election, Senator Jeremiah Useni, has appealed the judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that had upheld the election of Governor Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress.
The former Minister of the FCT in his notice of appeal, formulating 21 grounds of appeal to upturn the verdict of the tribunal, wants the higher court to upturn the verdict.
The PDP and Useni are insisting that the APC candidate, Governor Lalong, was not qualified in the first place to have contested for election because he did not supply information to his form CF100 to INEC.
The tribunal in its judgement had acknowledged that its findings also pointed to the fact that the information he supplied in that form was false.
Useni’s legal team led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, pointed out that “the inescapable conclusion that ought to be reached by the tribunal is that the 2nd respondent is not qualified to contest election into the office of governor.
Replying on the tribunal’s acknowledgement that its findings also pointed to the fact that the information Lalong supplied in his form CF100 to INEC was false.
Accordingly, Ozekhome said “instead, the tribunal clearly somersaulted in arriving at its decision which was at odds with its findings and this occasioned a miscarriage of justice.”
Therefore, the petitioners want an order declaring that the 2nd Respondent, Lalong was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election into the office of Governor of Plateau state and that the declaration and return of the 2nd respondent by the 1st respondent, INEC as the winner of the election is unlawful, undue, null, void and of no effect.
The PDP and Useni equally prays for an order nullifying the return of the 2nd respondent as the winner of the governorship election.
They want the court to direct the INEC to withdraw Lalong’s Certificate of Return, and declare and return Useni as validly elected and subsequently issue him a certificate of return as the duly elected governor of Plateau state.
