By Christiana Ekpa
The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Benin, Edo State, on Monday affirmed the election of House of Representative member Peter Akpatason of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Akoko-Edo federal constituency of Edo State.
The judgement, delivered by the Justice Yusuf Mohammed-led three-man panel, dismissed the petition by the Labour Party candidate, Omobayo Godwin, for incompetence and lack of merit.
The tribunal held that the petitioner failed woefully to prove that the third respondent, namely the Independent National Electoral Commission, unlawfully declared Akpatason the winner of the election.
INEC declared Akpatason the winner of the election with 14,982 votes, while Godwin, who came third, had 7992 votes.
Dissatisfied with the declaration, he approached the tribunal to challenge the return of Akpakpava, primarily on the grounds of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
The tribunal also dismissed the petition of Mr Osaro Osazee of the APC against the election of Esosa Iyawe for the Oredo federal constituency for lack of merit.
Delivering the unanimous judgement on behalf of the panel, Justice K. A. Leweanya held that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the petition, which bordered mainly on the qualification of the second respondent, Esosa Iyawe of the Labour Party.
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