Two petitions contesting the win of two Labour Party candidates in the House of Representatives election on February 25 were rejected by the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, on Thursday due to their lack of merit.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for that seat, Mr. Okhuarobo Osamuede, and his party disputed the election’s results in one of the petitions, arguing that the LP’s Murphy Omoruyi should not have been chosen to represent the Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency.
Osamuede argued that the election was unlawful due to fraud, non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022 as modified, and the fact that Murphy, the first respondent, was ineligible to run for office because he was not a member of the third respondent, the Labour Party.
However, the Tribunal determined that none of the petitioners’ claims were supported by evidence in its decision to dismiss the petition.
The panel also ruled that the petitioners in the case brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in that election, Eribo Crosby Osadolor, had failed to establish any of the grounds for the petition.
Additionally, the petition was rejected for lack of merit.
The Tribunal also dismissed the petition of Mr. Sunday Aguebor of the PDP and his party against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Iyawe Aisosa, and the Labour Party in the February 25 House of Representatives election for Oredo Federal Constituency.
The petition claimed that the Electoral Act of 2022, as amended, had not been followed, but the Tribunal determined that this claim had not been proven since charges of noncompliance must be supported ward by ward and polling unit by polling unit.
