The Governorship/Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Gombe, on Tuesday has nullified the electoral victory of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Leggerowo.
Recall that the Speaker was elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Akko Central state constituency in the State House of Assembly.
However, his major challenger during the election, Alhaji Bashir Abdullahi of the the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenged his victory at the Tribunal.
Leggerowo is presenting serving as Speaker of the House for the second time and was recently elected North-East Vice Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly of Nigeria.
The Tribunal presided over by Justice Michael Ugar nullified the election of the speaker on the ground that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cancelled votes cast in some polling units in the constituency which the petitioner complained about before the Tribunal that the action gave the defendant undue victory at the March 18, 2023 polls.
Justice Ugar ruled that the cancellation of the results of units 001, 024 and 014 of Kumo East in Akko local government area of the state by INEC was erroneous.
The judge consequently ordered the electoral commission to conduct rerun election within the next 30 days to determine the actual winner of the legislative seat.
However, the Speaker Leggerowo has expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict of the Tribunal and vowed to appeal against it as soon as possible at the Appellate Court.
