*As LP’s senator extends olive branch to PDP’s candidate
The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday night, upheld the election of Senator Ireti Kingibe of the Labour Party (LP) as the authentic senator representing Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and dismissed the petition of Senator Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Senator Aduda had filed a petition before the tribunal, challenging the propriety of Kingibe’s election on the grounds of irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The PDP candidate also claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Kingibe as the winner of the election when the collation of results was still ongoing in some areas of the nation’s capital.
But the three-man panel in its unanimous judgment, dismissed the petition of Aduda for being unmeritorious and affirmed the election of Senator Ireti Kingibe .
Meanwhile, Kingibe has reacted to the verdict and extended olive branch to Aduda.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Ireti Kingibe expressed her desire to work with Aduda for the development of Abuja.
She said, “Yesterday night, the election tribunal affirmed my election as duly elected senator of the Federal Capital Territory. I feel a great sense of relief that I can now start facing the work the people of the FCT elected me to do.
“First I would like to thank the best legal team, the best lawyers anybody could have. I’m really blessed to have had them. The judges showed a lot of fairness and integrity in their jobs.
“I would like to thank the LP, the Obidients – and all the people who have worked for this mandate and to celebrate with them for the affirmation of this mandate.
“I would also like to reach out to Senator Aduda, there is no victor and there is no vanquished. He ran a good race and now that it is over I will reach out to him to work with me to do for the FCT together the things he would have done had he won.
“ Making the FCT great is my ultimate goal”.
