The National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Katsina, on Wednesday nullified the election of two senators and eight members of the House of Representatives, all of them members of the Congress for Progressive change (CPC).
The affected Senators are Ahmed Sani-Store and Abdu Yan’doma representing Katsina Central and Katsina North Central Senatorial districts respectively.
The affected House members include Tasi’u Duguru, Mashi/Dutsi constituency, Muhammad Tukur, Katsina central, Umar Adamu, Daura/Mai’adua/Sandamu consituency, Aminu Ashiru, Mani/Bindawa constituency and Musa Salisu, Kankia /Kusada/Ingawa federal constituency.
Others are Muntari Dandutse, Funtua/Dandume federal constituency, Murtala Isa, Faskari/Sabuwa/Kankara federal constituency, and Abdu Dankama, Jibia/Kaita federal constituency.
Delivering the judgement, the Judges, Justice Solomon Akintaye and Justice Halim Saleeman also ordered INEC to conduct fresh elections in the affected senatorial districts and federal constituencies.
The judges said all the affected CPC contestants were not qualified to contest the April elections based on the judgment of the Court of Appeal which set aside the Jan.15, 2011 CPC primary elections that recognised them as the party’s flag bearers.
The tribunal also said it relied on sections 141 of the electoral act 2010 as amended and 135 of the 1999 constitution which provided that candidates should only contest election under a political party sponsorship.
They, however, said that the tribunal was not unaware of the pending case at the Supreme Court involving the affected legislators, but that the judgment of the Supreme Court could only be effected from the date it was passed, “hence it will not affect our verdict.”