The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified the election of former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, as a senator. The three-member panel of Justices ruled unanimously that Suswam was not the valid winner of the senatorial election held in Benue North East on February 25.
The court found that the Benue State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal made an error in evaluating the evidence presented and upheld an appeal by the All Progressives Congress candidate, Emmanuel Udende.
Udende had initially been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after polling 135,573 votes compared to Suswam’s 112,231 votes.
Suswam filed a petition, alleging irregularities and falsification of results, leading to the tribunal’s decision to cancel some votes for both candidates. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the tribunal’s judgment and affirmed Udende’s victory.
