Senator Jeremiah Useni, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State during the 2019 election has filled 21 grounds of appeal before the Court of Appeal in Jos adducing reasons why his petition asking the election petitions tribunal to upturn the victory of Governor Simon Lalong should be upheld.
Useni, in a statement by his Media Consultant, Mr Yiljap Abraham confirmed the development in Jos on Monday.
Abraham said, “Useni’s legal team, led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and Edward Pwajok, SAN with Benson Igbanoi, Chief Sunday-Gabriel Odey and ten other legal experts, has filed the notice of appeal and formulated 21 (twenty one) grounds of appeal to overturn the October 2nd, 2019 verdict of the governorship election petition tribunal dismissing his petition.
“Specifically, General Useni and the PDP are maintaining that Simon Bako Lalong was not qualified in the first place to have contested the election into the office of Governor of Plateau State because he supplied false information to INEC in his form CF100.”
In the reliefs being sought from the Court of Appeal, Useni and his party maintained that the tribunal in its judgement had acknowledged that its findings also pointed to the fact that the information the Governor supplied in that form was false and therefore sought an order allowing their Appeal and setting aside the judgment of the tribunal.
They also want an order declaring that Lalong who contested under the platform of the APC was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election into the office of Governor of Plateau State and that his declaration and return by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the election was unlawful, undue, null, void and of no effect.
They also seek an order nullifying the return of the 2nd respondent (Lalong) as the winner of the governorship election and directing INEC to withdraw Simon Bako Lalong’s Certificate of Return; declare and return Useni as validly elected and issue him a Certificate of Return as the duly elected Governor of Plateau State.
