Reps seat: Appeal Court declares LP candidate, Asama winner

From Justine Davis, Jos

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja the nation’s capital has on Friday upheld the judgement of the Elections Petition Tribunal in Bauchi State, which affirmed Daniel Asama Ago of the Labour Party (LP) as the valid winner of the Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency seat.

The appellate Court also squashed the appeal filed by Muhammad Adamu Alkali & Anr. Vs INEC & 2 Ors challenging the validity of the election that brought Asama for lacking in merit.

The three-member panel unanimously agreed that there was no reason to set aside the tribunal’s judgement in Bauchi State, which had abinitio dismissed the petition in July 2024.

The court found that the evidence presented confirmed that Asama won the election, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following the rerun election held on the 3rd February 2023.

Recall that PRP candidate Hon Alkali’s petition was hinged on the ground that Asama of the Labour Party did not qualify to participate in the rerun election as he is not among the beneficiary of Appeal Court judgment delivered sometimes in October, 2023.

He also accused the Electoral umpire (INEC) of including Labour Party in the ballot in error, prayed the Court to declare Asama votes wasted, order INEC to withdraw the certificate of return and issue to him as sold winner of the rerun election for Bassa-Jos North Federal Constituency.