TRIBUNAL: LP’s National Assembly Candidate, Loses Case Against Benjamin Kalu | READ MORE

The Labour Party’s candidate for Bende Federal Constituency in the 2023 National Assembly election, Chief Frank Chinasa, has lost his suit seeking for the nullification of the election of Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Chinasa had on March 17, 2023, filed a petition before the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia state, alleging that;

– Benjamin Kalu who doubles as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives was declared winner of the Bende Federal constituency election in error;

– that he was not qualified to contest for the election because he is not the owner of the certificates submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC);

– and he did not score the highest number of lawful votes in the election.

The petitioner prayed the tribunal to nullify the declaration of Kanu and also order INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to him.

Chinasa also asked the Tribunal to declare him the authentic winner of the election “having scored the highest number of lawful votes or nullify the entire election.”

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, the three-man Tribunal in a unanimous judgement, read by it’s Chairman, Justice Samson Paul Gang, dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

The Tribunal ruled that it was the right of the first respondent (Benjamin Kalu) to change his name as no person or group of persons has the monopoly of any name.

He ruled that Kalu equally harmonised the names in his certificate with a deed poll which was published in the Federal Government’s official gazette.

The judge ruled that the onus of proofs was on the petitioner (Chinasa) to prove that the certificates the respondent submitted to INEC did not belong to him, but he abandoned his case for the respondent to prove.

The parties were ordered to bear their administrative cost.