National Assemly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu has dismissed a petition filed by Senator Chimaroke Nnamani of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, disputing the election of Senator Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour Party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, proclaimed Chukwu the winner of the Enugu East Senatorial District election on February 25, 2023, after his late brother was slain during the campaign. He received almost 69,000 votes, defeating Chimaroke Nnamani, who received over 49,000 votes.
Not satisfied, Nnamani claimed that the election was marred by over-voting, anomalies, election malpractices, and non-compliance with electoral norms, and he petitioned the tribunal, pleading with it to declare him the lawful victor of the poll or to nullify it.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Nusirat I. Umar unani, affirmed Chukwu’s victory and ordered a cost of N500,000 against the petitioners in favour of the three respondents, Kelvin Chukwu, Labour Party, and INEC, in its ruling today.
The petition was denied unanimously by the three honourable Justices for being ambiguous, without merit, inept, generic, and academic exercise.
