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The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia State, on Tuesday threw out the petition of the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 25th of February National Assembly election for Bende Federal Constituency, Frank Chinasa against the election of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu.
Chinasa had brought Kalu before the Tribunal to question his right to run for office, citing errors in his credentials.
The Tribunal judges were of the opinion that the petitioner should have contacted the awarding institutions and confirmed the legitimacy of the certificates before approaching the court after taking into account the material put out by both sides.
The Tribunal stated that the petitioner did not prove that the first respondent is not the owner of the said certificates, rather was concern about the variation in the names
The Tribunal equally said the certificates submitted by the petitioner as evidence/exhibit were mere photocopies and not certified true copies, hence not admissible.
In delivering judgement, Chairman of the three man Panel, Justice Samson P. Gang, said the allegations made by the petitioner against Kalu were unsubstantiated and dismissed the petition.
Kalu expressed his gratitude to the tribunal for their impartiality and thorough examination of the case.
Chinasa said he was weighing his options with the judgement which he considered unfair.
