By Ovie Okpare
The election of the member representing Kogi West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye, has been annulled.
A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday ordered the removal of Melaye over discrepancies in the date of the election results.
The three-man bench led by Justice Abubakar Yahaya, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election for the senatorial district within 90 days.
The ruling was primarily based on the contradiction in the date the results of the election were declared and the date on the result sheets.
The panel upheld the two-to-one majority judgment of the three-man Kogi State National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal delivered on August 23, 2019.
The majority decision of the tribunal had upheld the petition filed by Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress challenging Melaye’s victory at the March 23, 2019 National Assembly poll.
Melaye, who contested the senatorial election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had filed an appeal challenging the tribunal’s judgment.
The PDP and INEC had also filed separate appeals against the tribunal’s verdict.
The Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed all the three appeals and upheld the tribunal’s judgment.
However, Melaye, who confirmed his election annulment, said he will win the re-run election against his opponent.
In a tweet posted on his official Twitter handle, the former lawmaker stressed that there was no cause for alarm over the judgement.
According to him, “I just lost my election at the Appeal Court and Fresh election ordered. In all things I give God the Praise. He who started a good thing will definitely complete it.
“I ask my supporters to be law abiding as we shall always overcome. To God be the Glory.”
