The National and state Houses of Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa, has struck out the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) challenging the February 24 election which returned the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner.
The petitioner and candidate of PDM, Mr John Mark, had approached the tribunal challenging the victory of Mr Abdulakarim Usman, the House of Representatives member-elect for Akwanga/Nassarawa-Eggon/Wamba federal constituency.
The candidate was challenging the election over alleged exclusion of his name and the logo of his party from the ballot paper.
The petitioner had filed a case against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), PDP and its candidate in the election.
Ruling on the motion, Justice David Ugoh, chairman of the tribunal Monday held that the petitioner failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010.
Ugoh said that all parties must comply strictly with the provision of the Electoral Act, as amended because all petitions would be decided on its merits.
He said the petitioner filed the letter of pre-hearing out of time, thereby flouting the seven-day time allowance provided by the law.
“The petitioners filed after the expiration of the seven days stipulated by the Electoral Act. The implication is that the petition is deemed abandoned and accordingly, the petition is hereby dismissed”, the tribunal chairman said. (NAN)
