The Cross River State Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal has fined the New Nigeria People’s Party N3 Million naira over its petition seeking to sack Senator Bassey Otu, the Cross River State governor.
The tribunal imposed the fine after dismissing the case filed by NNPP in its entirety.
Governor Otu had through his lawyers, asked for a N10 million cost against the NNPP, but the tribunal reduced it to N3 million after the conclusion of the case.
In a unanimous judgment, Justice Oken Inneh said the petitioners failed to establish that their candidate was lawfully excluded and dismissed the case in its entirety.
Inneh said the petitioners only called two witnesses out of over 3,000 polling units and their testimonies were inconsistent.
She also added that the NNPP did not name the candidate who was substituted and INEC did not monitor its primary election in line with the Electoral Act.
The tribunal awarded the sum of N1 million to each of the respondents.
The NNPP alongside its governorship candidate, Amb. Wilfred Bonse, has approached the tribunal, seeking to nullify the just-concluded governorship elections in the state.
The party, which filled its petition on April 10, 2023, with suit number EPT/CR/GOV/08/2023 had hinged it on substantial non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act.
The party sought a declaration by the court that the non- inclusion of the party’s logo on the ballot paper used for the election was unlawful.
The NNPP also wanted a declaration by the tribunal that the Independent National Electoral Commission conducts a fresh Governorship election in the state.
They also sought an order nullifying the election for failure to include the logo of the party, in line with an extant judgment by the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court.
In addition, the party wanted the certificate of return issued to the Cross River State governor Senator Bassey Otu withdrawn.
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
