Adamawa speaker faces suit challenging his senatorial ticket

By Adeleye Kunle

The Speaker of Adamawa State House of Assembly, Aminu Iya Abbas is faced with a lawsuit challenging his victory in the senatorial primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Adamawa Central Zone.

The plaintiffs, Mohammed Murtala Chubado and Ibrahim BabaYola Mustapha, who were the speaker’s leading opponents in the primary election, sued for his disqualification on allegations of falsehood in age declaration and electoral irregularities.

In the suit before Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the Federal High Court, Yola, the lead counsel to the plaintiffs, Abdulhamid Mohammed (SAN), argues: “In 2011, he (Abbas) swore an affidavit and said his father deposed to that affidavit. Subsequently, he presented those documents alongside the INEC forms. As of then, his father was already late for about 13 years.”

The suit is also challenging Abbas as the candidate of the PDP on allegation that Abbas gained the PDP ticket through massive electoral irregularities.

The lead counsel who said there were two different delegate lists and the people in both lists voted, added: “He (Abbas) also annexed two documents from his political party and called them his membership card which has different numbers on those forms. This is clearly false information.

“We are praying that the court will disqualify him if it finds out that he falsified his documents contrary to Section 29 Subsection 5 of the Electoral Act