Court of Appeal floored with 736 election petitions

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has so far received a total of 736 election petitions filed by aggrieved candidates in the 23019 general elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in February and March.

The Deputy Chief Registrar of the election petition tribunal, Rabi Abdulazeez, highlighted that a total of 121 petitions were received for the House of Representatives; 207 for the Senate; while 43 petitions were received for the governorship elections.

The state Houses of Assembly elections attracted a total of 381 petitions while four petitions were filed for the presidential election, resulting in a total of 736 petitions.

The tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine the validity of a person elected to the office of the president or vice president within 180 days.

Record has it that a total of 730 petitions were filed at the Court of Appeal in the 2015 general elections.