After losing their electoral dispute cases, many members of the National Assembly have gotten the “big stick” from the Court of Appeal.
There has never been such a high volume of court verdicts in the Senate or the House; many members have been shockingly voted out of office after only five months on the job.
The reasons why some of the members were removed are discussed in this MISMOB story.
Five senators have been removed from office by the Court of Appeal so far. There were losses and gains for the APC. Although they lost ground overall, the PDP gained three seats and the Labour Party dropped one.
Twelve members of the House of Representatives have been removed from office by the Supreme Court. Eight PDP members, three LP members, and one APC member were among the twelve dismissed.
Eight seats went to the APC, two to the PDP, one to the NNPP, and one to the APGA.
Adamawa APC’s Elisha Abbo
The Court of Appeal in Abuja removed the controversial lawmaker from office after declaring Amos Yohanna the victor in the Adamawa North Senatorial District.
Yohanna asked the court to remove the lawmaker from office on the grounds of election fraud and result manipulation, and the court agreed.
Abbo, elected in 2019 as a PDP member for the first time, has been involved in more than his share of scandals, including the slapping of a woman in an Abuja sex toy store.
Abia LP Darlington Nwokocha
Also hit hard by the court is the former minority whip of the Senate.
The Lagos Court of Appeal dismissed Darlington and awarded the Abia Central Senatorial District to PDP candidate Augustine Akobundu.
The court’s ruling significantly reduced Labour Party representation in the Senate. Darlington received 92,116 votes, far more than Akobundu’s total of 41,477, and easily won the election. But difficulties in the run-up to the election doomed him.
Kogi APC’s Abubakar Ohere
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan is the sworn opponent of Governor Yahaya Bello.
At both the election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Akpoti-Uduagan prevailed over Abubakar Ohere.
Ohere had been dismissed from his position as Senator for Kogi West by the tribunal back in September, but he appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal. The judge, however, found against him.
Plateau PDP leader Napoleon Bali
As the Appeal Court continued to dismiss PDP MPs from Plateau State, Napoleon Bali became one of the party’s casualties.
Before its primary elections, the court found that the PDP in the state lacked any kind of organization. It consequently fired Bali and declared Simon Lalong, a former governor of the state and Minister of Labour and Employment, as the Senator for Plateau South.
Mr. Lalong must now decide whether or not he will be seeking election to the Red Chamber.
A high court in Plateau State decided that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lacked the necessary legal framework in the state to nominate candidates for election. The party, however, appears to have disregarded the verdict. This has resulted in the Appeal Court dismissing a large number of candidates.
About six federal MPs representing Plateau State have been dismissed thus far by the Appeal Court.
PDP of the Plateau, Simon Mwadkwon
The PDP turmoil in Plateau State had an impact on the minority leader as well. The Court of Appeals terminated his employment and demanded new results within 90 days.
Chris Giwa of the All Progressives Congress and Gyang Zi of the Labour Party filed a lawsuit, which led to the court’s judgment.
To what extent the previous Minority Leader would be barred from running in the new election is unknown.
Congress’s Lower House
Members of the Plateau State House of Representatives Simon Bagos, Beni Lar, Isaac Kwalu, and Peter Gyendeng were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The four representatives are also affected by the pre-election controversy that has plagued the PDP in Plateau State.
The Court reaffirmed that party structure is an issue both before and after elections.
Enugu Labour Party’s Chijioke Okereke
The Court of Appeal also removed Labour Party’s Chijioke Okereke from his position as federal constituency representative for Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River.
The electoral petition panel had overturned the results and pronounced PDP candidate Anayo Onwuegbu the victor. This effectively removed Okereke from office.
Okereke appealed the tribunal’s verdict to the Court of Appeal, but the court upheld the original ruling.
S. Nwodo & Company, Enugu, Nigeria
Stainless Nwodo, who represented the Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani federal seat in Enugu State, was also removed from office by the Court of Appeal.
Due to allegations of certificate fabrication and election irregularities, the Court removed the member from office and awarded the seat to PDP candidate Martin Oke.
In Enugu, Dennis Agbo, LP
Denis Agbo, who was elected to represent Lagos State as a Labour Party candidate, was also removed from office by the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos State. He served as the federal representative for Enugu State’s Udenu/Igboeze North constituency.
While ruling on a petition submitted by Dr. Oby Ajih, candidate for the All Progressives Congress, the court mandated new elections be held within 90 days.
Abia LP’s Emeka Nnamani
A certificate fraud scandal led to Emeka Nnamani’s dismissal as representative for the Aba North and South Federal Constituency.
A court of appeals upheld Alex Ikwechegh’s election as the APGA candidate for the Aba North and South Federal Constituency.
Adamawa PDP’s Jingi Rufai
Adamawa State’s PDP representative for the Mubi North, Mubi South, and Maiha federal constituency, Jingi Rufai, was also expelled from the House.
Jaafar Magaji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was awarded a certificate of return by the court and INEC was instructed to issue it to him.
Kano APC’s Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso
Kwankwaso was also removed from his seat as the lawmaker for the federal constituency of Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam.
The NNPP’s Yusuf Datti was awarded a certificate of return from INEC after the Court of Appeal requested it.
The ruling APC in Kano State was already struggling before the verdict came down.
Kaduna PDP’s Yusuf Bashir
The Court also removed Yusuf Bashir of the PDP as the representative of Kauru federal constituency of Kaduna State.
Muktar Chawai has been officially named the constituency’s representative by the court.
Imo PDP’s Jonas Okeke
The court also removed Jonas Okeke as the Imo State representative for the Ehime Mbano/Ihitte Uboma, Obowo Federal Constituency.
The judge ruled that Chike Okafor should be considered the victor in the election.
Adamawa PDP Member Mohammed Salihu
Salihu’s position as federal representative for Adamawa State’s Yola North/South constituency was terminated by the court. The former lawmaker’s dismissal was a result of certificate inconsistencies.
Appellate court upholds election of Abubakar Baba Zango to the House of Representatives.
Mismob Media