The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the capital of Benue state, has declared Senator Gabriel Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as winner for the Senatorial election for the Benue North East Senatorial District.
In declaring Suswam winner, the presiding judge, Justice Ory Zik Ikeorha nullified the victory of All Progressives Congress, APC’s Senator Emmanuel Udende.
The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw Udende’s Certificate of Return and issue the same to Senator Suswam as the rightful winner of Senatorial elections held on 25th February 2023.
Justice Ikeorha noted that the petitioner proved his case beyond any reasonable doubt, saying there were clear evidences of over-voting, alterations of results and alterations in five LGAs.
The court subtracted 51,895 from the respondent’s total results of 21,229 as earlier declared by INEC.
After the subtraction, the court held that Senator Suswam scored a total of 90,590 votes against Udende’s 82, 699 and therefore upheld Suswam as the winner.
