The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal has ordered a rerun in the Delta Central Senatorial District.
The tribunal in its sitting on Tuesday in Asaba ordered a rerun in 23 polling Units in 4 Local Government Areas in the district.
Delivering judgment, Justice W. I. Kpochi, dismissed some of the petitions filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ighoyota Amori, for lacking in merit.
Justice Kpochi ordered rerun in 23 polling Units in Sapele, Okpe, Udu and Ughelli North Local Government Areas.
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The Tribunal also set aside the prayer of Amori that the victory of Senator Ede Dafinone be declared null, void and of no consequence, as well as, alternative prayer that he should be declared the winner of the senatorial election.
Reacting to the judgment, Dafinone called for calm, saying there was no cause for alarm over the cancellation of 23 Polling Units results in the February 25 election.
The chattered Accountant turned lawmaker, rejected the judgment and further directed his legal team to initiate an appeal process.
He said:
“The National Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting at Asaba today nullified my return as the winner of the Delta Central Senatorial Election of 26th February, 2023 and ordered a supplementary election within 90 days in only 23 polling units, out of the 2,180 units in the district.
“While I respect the ruling of the tribunal, I do not accept its decision. I have therefore directed my legal team to appeal the judgement immediately.
“Like we promised during our campaign to defend our votes, we shall fulfill our promise by defending the mandate which the people of Delta Central freely gave to us.”
“It is instructive to note that despite the cancellation of the affected units, we are still having an insurmountable lead over our closet opponent.
“As a consequence, we are not perturbed by today’s momentary setback which we shall surely overcome.
“We, therefore, urge our party faithful, supporters, and the great people of Delta Central to remain calm and steadfast, because this also shall end in Praise!”
