The Senate on Wednesday sworn in Amos Yohanna as the new Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District.
Yohanna (PDP, Adamawa), replaces Senator Elisha Abbo (APC) who was sacked by the Court of Appeal Court on Monday last week.
Recall that a three-member panel presided over by Justice C. E. Nwosu-Iheme, last week, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to issue a Certificate of Return to Amos Yohanna as the duly elected Senator after it upturned Abbo’s victory at the tribunal level.
The appellate court vacated the tribunal judgment which earlier affirmed Abbo of the APC as the winner of the senatorial election.
INEC had declared Abbo the winner of the February 25 parliamentary election.
Yohanna had challenged this decision by going to the tribunal. His case was dismissed on the grounds that it lacked merit.
Undaunted, the PDP candidate approached the appellate court to argue his case. His counsel, Johnson Usman (SAN), succeeded in convincing the court that his client had a case worthy of their attention.
After hearing arguments from parties, the Appeal Court agreed with Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from both parties and found that Yohanna and the PDP won the election by a majority of lawful votes.
In the wake of the judgment, Senator Abbo described it as a coup on democracy but told his supporters to remain calm.
He vowed to seek reelection in the next election.
