The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Calabar has sacked a member of the Cross River House of Assembly for Abi State Constituency, Dr. David Etta, of the Peoples Democratic Party and ordered a rerun.
Chairman of Panel Two of the tribunal, Justice A. A. Babawale, declared the election of Etta null and void while ruling on a petition by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Iwara Inah, in the election.
Inah had, in his petition, alleged electoral malpractices, and non compliance with the 2010 electoral guidelines by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the conduct of the election on March 9, 2019.
According to her, votes in 15 polling units numbering 10,400 votes which were cancelled could decide if victory could go one way or the other among the candidates.
Justice Babawale ordered “a rerun to be conducted in the 15 polling units within 90 days,” and called for the withdrawal of Certificate of Return given to the PDP candidate.
