Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
In a latest development on Wednesday, Amos Yohanna was officially sworn in as the new Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District during a session presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau.
Yohanna, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, assumed office, replacing Abbo, who was removed from office by the Appeal Court the previous week.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, ruled to unseat Abbo, who belonged to the All Progressives Congress. In their judgment delivered by Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, the three-member panel ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to Yohanna as the duly elected representative for the area in the National Assembly. This decision overturned the tribunal’s previous ruling, which had upheld Abbo as the senatorial election winner.
Initially, INEC had declared Abbo the victor of the February 25, 2023, parliamentary election. Dissatisfied with this outcome, the PDP candidate, Yohanna, filed a petition with the tribunal to challenge the election’s results. However, the tribunal dismissed Yohanna’s petition on the grounds of lacking merit.
Not content with the tribunal’s decision, the PDP candidate, represented by his counsel Johnson Usman, SAN, took the matter to the Court of Appeal. After reviewing the arguments presented by both sides, the Court of Appeal concurred with Usman’s assertion that the results submitted did not comply with the Electoral Act, as specified in Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022. Consequently, the court deducted invalid votes from both parties and determined that Yohanna and the PDP had won the election with a majority of lawful votes.
Following the court’s decision, Senator Abbo described it as a threat to democracy but urged his supporters to remain calm.