Battle for AMAC seat: Tribunal orders stay of execution

By: Wisdom Acka

Drama as same Tribunal, which delivered a judgement sacking the incumbent Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has issued another, ordering stay of execution of its earlier order.

Recall that the Area Council Election Tribunal, has on 5th August, 2022 delivered a judgement in a suit brought by Murtala Usman Karshi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding the council election of 12th February, 2022, seeking to be declared winner of the polls.

The three-man Tribunal sitting in Abuja granted 19,000 votes, instead of 13000 votes, to the first petitioner (Karshi) and declared him valid winner for scoring the highest lawful votes in the AMAC election.

The judgement, therefore, ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the incumbent AMAC Chairman, Christopher Maikalangu Zakka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 19,302 votes and issue certificate of return to Murtala Karshi.

Swiftly, Maikalangu and the PDP approached the same Tribunal, appealed the judgement, seeking stay of execution pending determination of its appeal.

Subsequently, the Tribunal has ordered stay of execution on its earlier judgment delivered between the AMAC Chairman, Maikalangu and his challenger, Murtala Karshi pending determination of the appeal filed against the judgment.

Meanwhile, protests rocked parts of the city as Abuja Grassroots called on the FCT Minister to respect the subsisting court order.

Addressing the protesters along the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport road over the weekend, convener of the protest and Abuja civil rights activist, Comrade Yunusa Yusuf sued for calm and stated that indigenous people were aware that the FCT Minister was a stickler to the rule of law and would not disobey court orders.