BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The national and state assembly petition tribunal sitting in Markudi, Benue state, on Tuesday upheld the election of David Mark, former senate president, as the senator representing the southern senatorial district of the state.
Reacting to the judgment of the tribunal, which upheld his election of March 28, Mark praised the judiciary for remaining the hope and defender of the rights of the oppressed.
He therefore promised to do “everything that is constitutionally right” to bring dividend of democracy to the door steps of his constituents and beyond.
In its judgement, the Justice Mosumola Dipeolu-led tribunal dismissed the petition brought by Daniel Onjeh, candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC), holding that the petitioner failed to established any case against Mark.
Justice Dipelou said Onjeh and the APC failed to prove allegations of rigging, multiple thumb printing, over-stuffing of ballots, allocation of votes, intimidation, harassment and inducement of voters among others.
The tribunal also held that the petitioner failed to substantiate any of his claims, saying this was “fatal” to Onjeh’s case.
According to Paul Mumeh, the media aide of Mark: “The tribunal therefore discountenanced scanty evidence of PW 18 (expert witness) called by Onjeh because the witness under cross examination accepted that there was error in his data analysis.”
Mark is Nigeria’s longest-serving senator. He was elected in 1999, and re-elected in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. He served as president of the senate for eight years.
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