Senator Ishaku Abbo
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has invalidated the election of Senator Ishaku Abbo from the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was representing Adamawa North in the National Assembly.
Abbo was declared the winner of the February 25, 2023 parliamentary election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Amos Yohanna, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), contested the outcome and brought the matter to court.
In its ruling, the tribunal rejected Yohanna’s petition, citing a lack of merit.
Yohanna, represented by his legal counsel Johnson Usman (SAN), proceeded to the Appeal Court.
After hearing arguments from all parties involved, the Court of Appeal concurred with Usman, pointing out that in accordance with Section 137 of the Electoral Act of 2022, the presented results clearly demonstrated non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
Subsequently, the court subtracted the invalid votes from the respective parties, revealing that Yohanna and the PDP had secured victory in the election through the majority of valid votes.
Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, who presided over the three-member panel, directed INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to Yohanna as the duly elected legislator for the senatorial district.