Court fixes March 15 for suit challenging Saraki’s Senatorial election
Justice Binta Nyako of Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has slated March 13 for hearing in a pre -election suit by senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq challenging the election of Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
The court registrar on March 5 served hearing notice to the respondents, including the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Abdulrazaq had in January re-filed the suit that the INEC officials and Saraki’s agent forged electoral documents which returned Saraki, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Kwara Central Senatorial District.
Abdulrazaq is seeking an order of mandamus compelling INEC, to prosecute Ladi Hassan, an agent to Saraki during the collation of the results of the 2015 election; and the collating/returning officer, Mrs. Mulkah Ahmed.
The plaintiff alleged in his suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/92/2018, that Saraki was declared the winner of the election on March 28, 2015, when the results were only allegedly collated by just Ahmed and Hassan (Saraki’s agent) at the district level on March 29, 2015.
He attached to his suit two sets of documents, with one set marked Exhibit 1, said to be showing that “the summaries of results from wards and local government areas that make up the senatorial district were finally compiled on March 29, 2015, as the date on each of these forms read the same collation date.”
The second document attached to the suit as Exhibit 2 was said to be INEC FORM EC 8E(1) “which is the Declaration of Results of Election compiled by by Dr. (Mrs.) Mulkah A. Ahmed (the returning officer) and Ladi Hassan, agent to Dr. Bukola Saraki.”
Abdulrazaq alleged in his suit that “only two of them (Ahmed and Hassan) signed the form and March 28, was appended on the face of the form.”
An affidavit deposed to by the plaintiff’s aide, Adebayo Oloyin, stated in part,”That it is a common sense that collation date will always precede declaration date as the collation dictates declaration of results.”
INEC officers listed in the suit are: Mrs Mohammed Adenike (Returning Officer for Adigbongbo/Awe/Orimaro); Mrs Balogun Mutiat (Returning Officer for Afon); Ibrahim Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Returning Officer for Balogun Gambari); and Olowoleru Olodan (Returning Officer for Ogidi).
Others are: Abdulrahman Mohammed Rahim (Returning Officer for Warrah/Egbeejila/Oshin); Alhaji Ladi Hassan (Agent to Bukola Saraki); and Dr Mulikah Ahmed, the Returning Officer for the entire Kwara Central Senatorial District.
According to the deponent the alleged offences by the named officials cost his boss at the Election Petition Tribunal which challenged Saraki’s election.
