The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos State has invalidated the election victory of Thaddeus Atta from the Labour Party as the duly elected representative for Eti Osa Federal Constituency.
In a late-night judgment delivered on Monday, the tribunal 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.
In that election, INEC had declared Atta who scored 24,075 votes as the winner, while Banky W and IBO were said to have scored 18,668 and 16,901 votes, respectively.
Reacting to the ruling on Tuesday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Atta said there was no cause for alarm, noting that he was not “sacked” by the court.
“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 said.
