The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed Honorable Ekene Abubakar Adams of the Labour Party as the duly elected House of Representatives member representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency.
The court, Friday, dismissed the appeal filed by Hon. Yakubu Barde and his political platform, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced Adams Abubakar as the winner of the House of Representatives seat for the said constituency, saying he polled 57,725 votes.
Advertisement
Yakubu Barde who was said to have polled 47,937 votes challenged Abubakar’s victory on the grounds of alleged corrupt practices and non-qualification bordering on alleged certificate forgery.
But Justice F.A. Fiberesima of the National Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna had dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and for failing to prove his allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
Barde then approached the Court of Appeal for final determination of his certificate forgery allegations against Abubakar.
Reading its judgement on Friday, Justice J. Jauro of the appeal court observed that the arguments so canvassed so far, by the appellants, lack merit.
The judge further held that the judges of the lower court were right to strike out the appellants’ petition because they related to pre-election matters.
“This appeal is dismissed,” Justice Jauro held while awarding ₦200,000 as costs against the appellants.