The National and State House of Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia has nullified the election of the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, for Abia North Senatorial District.
A member of three-member tribunal, Justice Igwe delivered the judgment on Monday, saying that the petitioner, Sen Mao Ohuabunwa successfully proved his allegation of substantial non-compliance with the electoral guidelines.
Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) approached the tribunal to nullify the election of Kalu, who contested the February 2019 election for the All Progressives Congress.
He added that Kalu’s declaration as the winner of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply with the provisions of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended.
The petitioner alleged that INEC excluded some votes during the collation of results, adding that the commission also disenfranchised many registered voters in the constituency.
The tribunal said that since all the parties agreed that elections were peaceful in the entire senatorial district, INEC failed in its duty to ensure that all the unit results were duly recorded in the relevant ward and local government result sheets.
It frowned at the exclusion of over 30,000 votes from Arochukwu Local Government Area, without giving good reason for its action.
The tribunal held that the excluded figure was much higher than the over 10,000 votes, which was the margin of lead between Kalu and the petitioner.
The panel, therefore, nullified the election and ordered a supplementary election in the affected areas within 90 days.