The case submitted by Labour Party senatorial candidate Michael Auta to overturn Sunday Marshall Katung’s election was denied by the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Kaduna.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-member justices found that the candidate for the LP had not presented sufficient proof of the case for electoral law compliance and violence on February 25.
In his case, Auta asked the Tribunal to overturn INEC’s announcement, alleging that the elections were tainted by violations of electoral procedures and that elections were not held in some areas of the Kachia and Kagarko Local Government Areas.
One of the three-panel tribunal committee who delivered the judgement, Justice O.O. Oluboyede, who delivered the judgment declared that the petitioner had failed to provide credible evidence to prove his case.
He dismissed the petition in its entirety.
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One of the lead counsel for the respondent, Zigwai Z. Adamu, said that the petition filed by the Labour Party candidate alleged that elections were not conducted in some certain polling units, but however, the petitioner could not adduced credible evidence as contained in their pleadings.
“The petitioner have tried to make the tribunal to go into fishing festival, to fish evidence that was never tendered for it. The tribunal is a court of justice, not a court of emotions but evidence that is before them they’ll use at the end of the day.
“We thank the tribunal for upholding the victory of the Kaduna-South Senator, Sunday Marshal Katung.
Meanwhile, fielding questions from journalists shortly after the ruling, The minority leader in the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Ali Kalat, commanded the tribunal for affirming the victory of Sunday Marshal Katung.
“Southern Kaduna has been a PDP region, someone cannot come and contest and election and claim victory overnight,” Kalat said.
Katung was returned elected in the National Assembly election conducted by INEC on February 25, 2023.