LP’s Ireti Kingibe: Major victory as Appeal Court gives verdict in FCT senatorial election

The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on Wednesday, November 1, dismissed an appeal brought before it by former Senator Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the election of Senator Ireti Kingibe.

In its judgment, the court declared Kingibe as the authentic winner of the February 2023 election and the rightful senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on the platform of the Labour Party.

In the surprising judgment delivered via Zoom, the appellate court dismissed Aduda’s appeal for lacking merit, The Nigerian Tribune reported.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer for the FCT senatorial election, Prof. Sani Saka, had declared Kingibe the winner of the poll after garnering 202,175 votes to defeat Aduda, who came second with 100,544 votes.

In his judgment on Wednesday, Justice Daniel Kahiru held that Aduda did not tender the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine data and Voter Register to prove irregularities.

He held the appellants also failed to prove overvoting while affirming Ireti as the winner.

“All the issues in this appeal are resolved against the appellant,” the judge held.

Earlier, the Court of Appeal, Lagos division, set aside the judgement of the National Assembly Elections Tribunal Asaba and affirmed the victory of Hon. Francis Ejiroghene Waive.

The court declared Waive as the duly elected member representing Ughelli North, Ughelli South, and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in Delta state.