The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election victories of Senators Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, and Kaka Lawan, representing Borno Central.
A three-member panel led by Justice Biobele Georgewill declared that the appeals against the lawmakers lacked merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had previously declared Ndume and Lawan as the winners of the National Assembly elections in their respective senatorial districts.
Dissatisfied with these declarations, Muhammed Kumalia and the Peoples Democratic Party challenged Lawan’s election, while Kudla Satumari and the PDP filed a petition against Ndume at the state’s election tribunal.
The Borno State National and State’s Election Petition Tribunal had dismissed both of these petitions.
Unhappy with the tribunal’s decisions, Kumalia and Satumari took their appeals to the Court of Appeal.
During the proceedings, Yusuf Ali represented Kaka Shehu and the APC, Johnson Usman represented INEC, and Marcel Oru, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria, represented Mr. Ndume. These senior lawyers argued for the dismissal of the appeals due to their lack of merit.
In its final judgments, the Court of Appeal upheld the arguments put forth by the senior lawyers, ruling that the appeals challenging the senators’ elections lacked merit.
The court dismissed the appeals and confirmed the election victories of Lawan and Ndume.
