The Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State has declared the Mr. Thaddeus Atta who is the candidate of the Labour Party, as the duly elected House of Representatives member representing Eti Osa Federal Constituency in Lagos State.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, had in September declared the election inconclusive.
The tribunal at that time had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days in 33 polling units where elections were not held.
However, the Appeal Court on Tuesday overturned the tribunal’s directive and ruled that the elections were conclusive.
Read Also: Plateau South: Appeal Court Upholds Senator Lalong’s Win
This legal battle involved famous Nigerian singer and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Bankole Wellington, known as Banky W, who was declared the runner-up in the February 2023 election, and Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In another report, Simon Lalong who is the Minister of Labour, has been officially confirmed as the winner of the Plateau South Senatorial seat by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
Mr. Napoleon Bali, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 25 election, saw his appeal dismissed by the appellate court on Tuesday. Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu and the three-member panel unanimously concluded that the appeal lacked merit.
The court, after thorough consideration, decided not to set aside the judgment of the Plateau State National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal, which previously, on September 11, recognized Simon Lalong, the immediate past governor of the state, as the legitimate winner of the senatorial race.
The appellate court’s assessment of the evidence revealed that Mr. Bali, who had been declared the winner of the senatorial seat by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), did not meet the criteria as a bona fide candidate in the election.