In a significant development, the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Kaduna State has reached a decision to dismiss petitions lodged against two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who hold positions in the House of Representatives.
On Saturday, the tribunal brought an end to the petitions directed at David Umar Gurara, the representative for the Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency, as well as Hon. Bashir Shadow, who serves as a member for the Kauru Federal Constituency.
Both Gurara and Shadow secured their positions following the House of Representatives election conducted on February 25th, 2023, overseen by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The legal action had been initiated by the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Gabriel Haar Zock, and Hon. Mukhtar Zakari.
Zock’s petition claimed that elections had not taken place across 43 polling units. He urged the tribunal to nullify INEC’s declaration and mandate a fresh round of elections.
Meanwhile, Zakari’s petition against Shadow was based on allegations that the latter had presented a falsified school certificate. Zakari requested the tribunal to compel INEC to issue him a certificate of return, given that he had secured the second position during the election.
The verdict was delivered by Justice H.H Kereng, the Chairman of the Tribunal, who ruled on the petition filed by Gabriel Haar Zock. In this judgment, Justice Kereng stated that the petitioner had failed to present substantial evidence to support his claims. Consequently, the petition was dismissed in its entirety.
In a parallel decision, Hon. Justice Abdu Maiwada Abubakar, while delivering the judgment on Zakari’s petition against Shadow, dismissed the petition on the grounds of its lack of merit.
Barr. Kassai Jessy, one of the lead counsels representing the two respondents, conveyed that the tribunal had dismissed both petitions due to their lack of merit. He highlighted the tribunal’s leniency in refraining from imposing fines on the petitioners, given the perceived squandering of its time.
With these judgments, the path is now clear for the PDP lawmakers to continue their legislative duties without the cloud of legal challenges hanging over their positions.
