The Speaker of the Edo House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, on Monday commended the judiciary over an Appeal Court judgment which declared him as the All Progressives Party (APC) elected member of the House of Representatives for Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency.
Adjoto had challenged the judgment of a lower court which upheld the return of Peter Akpatason by INEC as the duly elected APC candidate in the Feb. 23, National Assembly elections for the Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency.
Adjoto had argued that being the candidate who emerged from the October party primaries in 2018, but was denied the party ticket and given to Akpatason, he ought to have been declared as the winner of the election.
The judgment, read by Justice Moora Abraham-Adumein, nullified the judgment of the lower court and declared Adjoto as the authentic candidate and winner of the election for the Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency.
Adjoto told newsmen that through the judiciary, impunity and injustice could be challenged, adding that the judgment was a clear victory for democracy, NAN reports.
“My profound gratitude to the judiciary for offering the aggrieved members the platform and the opportunity to challenge the injustice and impunity in political parties.
“I have always had faith in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man,’’ he said.
According to the Speaker, “I promised to provide effective representation for the people of the Akoko-Edo federal constituency in the House of Representatives’’.
The Federal High Court sitting in Benin had earlier struck out the petition filed by Adjoto challenging the candidature of Peter Akpatason for the Akoko-Edo federal constituency.
