The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal convened in Kaduna on Monday and ruled to reject the petition brought forth by Augustine Danbaba Umar, the Labour Party’s House of Representatives candidate for the Kachia/Kagarko federal constituency. Umar had lodged this petition with the aim of nullifying the election victory of David Umaru Gurara, the candidate representing the Peoples Democratic Party.
In the election that occurred on February 25, 2023, Gurara emerged as the victor and was officially confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission to continue serving in his capacity.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the election’s outcome, Umar initiated legal proceedings by submitting a petition to the tribunal, with the intent of challenging Gurara’s win.
Justice Chudi Nwankwor, presiding over the case, delivered the tribunal’s verdict, dismissing Umar’s petition on grounds of lacking merit. As part of the ruling, the tribunal ordered Umar to pay N500,000 to Gurara.
Samuel Atung, the legal representative for Gurara, responded to queries from journalists and explained that the tribunal had discarded the Labour Party candidate’s petition due to its failure to meet the necessary standards of merit.