Tribunal upholds Ben Kalu's victory, dismisses LP candidate's petition * As AA candidate denies filing petition against Kalu

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Tribunal upholds Ben Kalu’s victory, dismisses LP candidate’s petition

* As AA candidate denies filing petition against Kalu

By Steve Oko

The National Assembly Elections Petition tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Tuesday, dismissed the petition by the candidate of Labour Party, Chief Frank Chinasa, seeking to nullify the election of the member representing Bende federal constituency and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.

This is as the candidate of the Action Alliance, AA, Ifeanyi Igbokwe, has flatly denied ever filing any petition against Kalu.

Wawa News Global reports that Kalu was declared winner of the February 25 national assembly poll in Bende federal constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

But dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the LP candidate and his party headed for the tribunal.

The three man tribunal , in a unanimous judgment read by its Chairman, Justice Samson Paul Gang, dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

The Petitioner had in his relief argued that the 1st Respondent was not qualified to contest for the position, and prayed the tribunal to nullify his election.

Similarly, the Petitioner had urged the tribunal to nullify the election of the 1st Respondent, alleging discrepancies in the names on his various certificates.

He had also urged the tribunal to declare that the 1st Respondent was not elected by majority of total lawful votes cast at the poll.

The Petitioner equally sought the nullification of the election and withdrawal of the Certificate of Return issued to the 1st Respondent, and re-issued to the 1st Petitioner, or in the alternative, the nullification of the entire election.

Meanwhile, the tribunal in its judgment, said that certified true copies of the various certificates of the 1st Respondent tendered by the Petitioners did not emanate from the issuing authorities, hence, they were inadmissible.

According to the tribunal, a party who is not a maker of a document is not competent to tender same in evidence, adding that the court can only rely on credible evidence and not speculations.

It further held that the Petitioners failed to bring any staff of the issuing authorites to testify before the tribal to prove their case.

The tribunal also held that since the 1st Respondent had harmonised his names through a Deed Pool published in a federal gazette, and backed with a newspaper publication of change of name, the Petitioner could not establish any case of certificate forgery against him.

It held that “Okezie” is a constant denominator in all three names in the 1st Respondent’s various names, hence the harmonisation of his name to Benjamin Okezie Kalu was valid as it followed due process.

According to the tribunal, the Petitioners woefully failed to prove their case, hence, the petition was dismissed “for lack of merit”.

Meanwhile, there was a mild drama in the court in another petition filed by the Action Alliance, AA, candidate Mr Ifeanyi Igbokwe against Kalu, as the Petitioner who was personally in court denied any knowledge of the suit.

Later in an interview with newsmen, Igbokwe said that he never filed any petition against Kalu, claiming that the purported Petitioner was an impostor.

He said that he had since accepted the outcome of the election, and congratulated Kalu, wondering how how somebody went to court in his name.

” I’m in court today in search of the man that claimed he is Ifeanyi Igbokwe. I’m the AA candidate, Mr Ifeanyi Igbokwe. I never went to court against Kalu.

” I have reported the fake Petitioner to the Police and the DDS. We are looking for him and he should be arrested wherever they see him”.

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Steve Oko, Publisher/C.E.O, WaWa News Global. For more information on advert placement and news coverage, contact us on: 08038725600, or via email stevemanofgod2000@yahoo.com; wawanewsglobal@gmail.com Always read WaWa News Global - Your most dependable online news platform for the latest breaking news in Nigeria.