The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Lagos has nullified the return of Mr Thaddeus Atta of the Labour Party as the duly elected representative for Eti Osa Federal Constituency.
In the lead judgment, which was delivered late Monday night, the tribunal declared the elections inconclusive and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days in 33 polling units where elections did not hold.
Reacting to the ruling Tuesday morning in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Atta said there was no cause for alarm, noting that he was not “sacked” by the court.
“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 Etiosa. I urge constituents to keep calm as we are unshaken. We will get through this together,” he said.
No cause for alarm!
I am here to clarify that I was not sacked. 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 Etiosa.
I urge constituents to keep calm as we are unshaken. We…
— JT Atta Thaddeus (@_JtAtta) September 12, 2023
Bankole Wellington (Banky W) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was declared second in the polls and the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro (IBO) had both filed petitions to challenge the elections of February 25.
In that election, INEC had declared Atta who scored 24,075 votes as the winner, while Banky W and IBO were said to have scored 18,668 and 16,901 votes, respectively.