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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia State, has dismissed the petition of the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the February 25 National Assembly election for Bende Federal Constituency, Frank Chinasa against the election of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu.
Chinasa had dragged Kalu to the Tribunal, challenging his eligibility to contest the election, citing inconsistencies in his names on the credentials.
After considering the evidence presented by both parties, the Tribunal judges were of the view that the petitioner should have contacted the awarding institutions and verify the authenticity of the certificates before approaching the court.
The Tribunal stated that the petitioner did not prove that the first respondent is not the owner of the said certificates, rather was concern about the variation in the names
The Tribunal equally said the certificates submitted by the petitioner as evidence/exhibit were mere photocopies and not certified true copies, hence not admissible.
In delivering judgement, Chairman of the three man Panel, Justice Samson P. Gang, said the allegations made by the petitioner against Kalu were unsubstantiated and dismissed the petition.
Kalu expressed his gratitude to the tribunal for their impartiality and thorough examination of the case.
Chinasa said he was weighing his options with the judgement which he considered unfair.
“Definitely, it is not the end of the matter. We are confident that we will get better hearing at appeal,” Chinasa said.
