Court Orders Election Rerun In Banky W’s Federal Constituency

• Yusuf Oketola

The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos State, has invalidated the election victory of Thaddeus Atta of the Labour Party (LP) as the duly elected representative for Eti Osa Federal Constituency.

The tribunal in a late-night judgment delivered on Monday, ruled that the elections were inconclusive and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days in all polling units where voting did not take place.

Nigerian singer and actor, Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, of the Peoples Democratic Party, who was declared the runner-up in the February 2023 election, and the All Progressives Congress candidate, Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro, had both filed petitions challenging the election results.

The electoral umpire declared Atta the winner with 24,075 votes, while Banky W and Obanikoro polled 18,668 and 16,901 votes, respectively.

Reacting to this on his official Instagram handle (@repibrahimobanikoro) on Tuesday morning, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Ibrahim Obanikoro, confirmed this and hailed the judges “for this ruling which adheres to the components of the Constitution.”

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“It was all smiles at the tribunal court when it was confirmed that there would be a supplementary election in several polling units under the Eti-Osa Federal constituency where the election did not take place. I believe that our justice system is on the right track and I praise the judges for this ruling which adheres to the components of the Constitution. Work starts now.”

As monitored by OSUN DEFENDER, he had shared on his Instagram story that, “The Feb 25 election has just been rightly declared inconclusive and supplementary elections have been ordered by the court. INEC has been ordered to withdraw the return certificate and conduct elections in areas where it didn’t hold on Election Day.”

In a post shared by Atta of the LP on his X handle (@_JtAtta) on Tuesday morning, he disclosed he was not sacked and there is “No cause for alarm.”

“I am here to clarify that I was not sacked. The Tribunal has simply ordered a re-run (supplementary election) in the 32 polling units where elections did not hold. We will continue working for Eti-osa. I urge constituents to keep calm as we are unshaken. We will get through this together,” he added.

In a post similar to the reaction to the election, Banky W, on Monday night wrote “It is possible. Still,” on his X verified handle.