The All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the recently conducted Senatorial bye-election in Niger East Senatorial District, Barrister David Umaru has sued the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Shem Zagbayi and 388 others at the National Assembly Election Tribunal.
Barrister David Umaru in a petition to the Tribunal sitting in Minna, prayed to be declared as the winner of the bye-election having polled majority votes as against the PDP candidate that was declared winner by INEC.
The APC candidate and his party in a petition to the tribunal made available to Journalists on Sunday prayed the tribunal to cancel the results of 378 polling units in the nine local government areas in the Senatorial District of the bye-election for electoral malpractices and irregularities.
In the petition, other respondent named included the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), INEC, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC and all the presiding officers of the commission that participated in the conduct of the bye-election.
The petitioners are also seeking the order of the tribunal to cancel and deduct the votes scored by all parties in the affected polling units from the final results recorded by INEC to determine the rightful winner of the bye-election.
The PDP candidate according to results released by INEC got 92,056 while the APC candidate got 87,406 votes but David Umaru is asking the tribunal to deduct 22,491 votes from APC results and 53,837 votes from that of PDP in determining the lawful winner of the senatorial bye-election
According to Umaru “if the results of the polling units affected by non-compliance and irregularities are cancelled and deducted from the total final scores of the candidates, I shall emerge with the highest number of valid Votes cast at the election. Therefore, minus 22,491 from 87,405 to bring the APC to 64,914 and PDP will have 38,219 after 53,837 is deducted from 92,056”.
The petitioners are also praying the tribunal to declare null and void INEC’s declaration of Dr. Zagbayi and his party as winner of the Niger East senatorial bye-election conducted on 30th August and September 6th 2014 because he did not secure majority of the lawful votes.
Umaru added that, he (Zagbayi) was not qualified to contest the election having not been properly sponsored by his party (PDP) in accordance with the Provisions of the Constitution.
According to the petitioners “the scores ascribed to each of the candidates are not the true reflection of the candidates actual scores, rather, the product of deliberate wrong entries and collation of figures made by the 3rd Respondent’s agents or officers at the polling units”.