National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Plateau State has declared Hon Joseph NannimLangyi (PDP) as the duly elected member representing Langtang North state constituency in the state House of Assembly.
It dismissed the petition of Hon Nimchak Abel of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for lack of merit.
Abel filed a petition challenging the election of Langyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18, 2023 election.
Justice Emmanuel Nwazunke of Panel 2, who read the judgement yesterday, said the petitioners failed to discharge the burden of proof of over-voting as he alleged in the petition.
He said the petitioner’s petition is predicated on issues of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, that the 3rd respondent (PDP) didn’t have a structure in Plateau State to sponsor and nominate the 2nd respondent to contest the election.
The tribunal confirmed that PDP has solid structure in the state after the congress held on September 25, 2021 at Langfield Resort in Jos South local government area.
The tribunal further said that the petitioner is neither a member of the 3rd respondent to challenge the nomination and sponsorship of the 2nd respondent.
The tribunal highlights those qualified to challenge the candidature of a particular party in an election to include an aggrieved candidate of the same party who contested and lost for obvious reasons perceived to have been caused by either the 1st or 3rd respondents as the case may be.
Against this background, the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking in merit, adding that it was tantamount to wasting the court’s precious time.
In an interview with journalists after the judgement, Langyi called on his opponent and his supporters to join him to move the constituency to greater heights.
