The National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Makurdi, Benue State on Thursday granted Daniel Onjeh’s motion exparte for substituted service on Senator David Mark.
Onjeh and Mark contested the February 20 Benue South Senatorial District legislative rerun election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party respectively.
Onjeh had filed a petition urging the tribunal to declare him as the winner of the poll.
Joined in the petition as co-respondent were the Independent National Electoral Commission and PDP.
INEC had declared Mark as the winner of the poll with a margin of barely more than 12,000 votes.
Onjeh insisted that “the purported margin of win that led to the declaration of Mark as winner of the poll was far less than the number of cancelled and rejected votes”.
He told the tribunal that the cancelled and rejected votes were over 29,000.
According to him, evidence on the face of the certified true copy of result declaration sheets obtained from INEC showed irregularities and non-compliance with Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
The tribunal gave 21 days to the respondents to reply to the petition upon service, following which Onjeh and APC would reply within seven days and then sitting would commence.
Onjeh informed the tribunal that the court bailiff made several attempts to effect service on the respondents to no avail.
In his ruling on the motion, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Abdullahi Sanya, ordered that service be effected by substituted means.
Sanya said the petitioner could paste the service at the gate of Mark’s compound at 20, David Mark Way, Otukpo, Benue State.
NAN reports that this was the second time Onjeh will be dragging Mark to the tribunal.
The first was after the 2015 general election, which led to the nullification of Mark’s election and gave rise to the February 20 legislative rerun election.
NAN.
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