Plateau By-Election: PRP’s Alkali Reclaims Mandate, As Tribunal Strips PDP’s Agah

Mohammed O. Taoheed

Muhammad Adam Alkali, the candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) has been decalred winner of the by-election for Jos North Bassa federal constituency following a petition written to National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.

Alkali and PRP had challenged the outcome of the February 26 by-election for the Plateau State constituency where the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Musa Agah, was announced the winner.

Justice Hope O. Ozoh. Khadi Usman Umar, and Justice Zainab M. Bashir, in their verdict on Friday, maintained that the petitioners proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and declared Alkali the winner of the polls.

The court also reversed the certificate of return earlier issued to Agah by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yinka Oyerinde, the INEC Returning Officer, while declaring Agah the winner claimed that he polled 40,343, against Alkali who ”scored” 37,757 votes.

In March, TrackNews Nigeria reported that Alkali has vowed to reclaim his “subverted” victory at the bye-election. He stressed that there are evidence that over-voting took place in some electoral wards and polling units.

“It is evidently clear that manual accreditation was made in some places, in others even the manual accreditation was not made, rather ballot stuffing was made in favour of the PDP candidate,” he claimed.