National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin City, Edo State capital, on Monday dismissed the petition filed by John Osagie Inegbedion, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), against the election of Senator Clifford Ordia representing Edo Central senatorial district.
The tribunal dismissed Inegbedion’s petition for lack of merit.
The APC candidate had demanded that the tribunal declares him the winner of the election.
However, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove their case of vote-buying and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court also held that the APC candidate failed to name any voter that was bribed or bought with money.
The tribunal, in an anonymous ruling, said all the documents tendered by Inegbedion while giving evidence were wrong because he could not have been present at all the polling units.
It said no witnesses mentioned anything in the exhibits tendered by Inegbedion adding that the petitioners had to prove their allegations polling unit by polling unit.
The tribunal further held that the relief sought by the APC candidate were declarative and that a candidate of an election cannot be affected by the conduct of its political party.
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