The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, has nullified the victory of the Labour Party candidate, Thaddeus Atta, and ordered a rerun for the Eti Osa Federal Constituency of Lagos State.
Popular Nigerian singer and actor, Olubankole Wellington, with the stage name Banky W and Ibrahim Obanikoro of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress respectively will participate in the election.
The verdict has given both Banky W and Obanikoro the opportunity to express hope of regaining victory as the court ordered the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the rerun within 90 days.
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.
The electoral umpire declared Atta the winner with 24,075 votes, while Banky W and Obanikoro polled 18,668 and 16,901 votes, respectively.
Reacting to this on his official Instagram handle (@repibrahimobanikoro) on Tuesday morning, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Ibrahim Obanikoro, confirmed this and hailed the judges “for this ruling which adheres to the components of the Constitution.”
In a post similar to the reaction to the election, Banky W, on Monday night wrote “It is possible. Still,” on his X verified handle.
However, in a post shared by Atta of the LP on his X handle (@_JtAtta) on Tuesday morning, he disclosed he was not sacked and there is “No cause for alarm.”
According to him, 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,
