Abubakar Suleiman, the Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, has been removed from his position as the member representing the Ningi Central Constituency in the Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.
In its ruling on Friday, the appeal court mandated a recount in ten of the constituency’s polling places.
He was proclaimed the victor of the March 18th election in the Ningi Central Constituency by Professor Shuaibu Muhammad, the Returning Officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission.
With 16,866 votes, Suleiman, a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, defeated Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi of the All Progressives Congress, who received 15,065, while Danlami Bara’u of the New Nigeria People’s Party received 4,886 votes.
Abdulmalik-Ningi, however, was not happy with INEC’s announcement of the election results and sought remedy from the State’s Governorship and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.
However, the Tribunal rejected his claim and upheld Suleiman’s election to a second term in office.
The APC candidate, who was dissatisfied with the verdict as well, appealed it to the Court of Appeal.
The three-member bench of the appellate court on Friday ordered a rerun and declared the tribunal’s decision to be invalid.
In the meantime, Abubakar Suleiman called the ruling a slight political setback that is nothing new in politics in a statement released by Abdul Burra, his spokeswoman.
Despite acknowledging that the verdict was unfavorable, he urged his followers to maintain composure.
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