CITY NEWS Tribunal upholds Gwagwalada chair’s election Group laments rising cases of violence against men
The FCT Area Council Election Petitions Tribunal sitting at Wuse Zone 6 Magistrate Court, yesterday, again upheld the election of the chairman of Gwagwalada area council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as the duly elected chairman of the council in the April, 9 2016 election.
City News reports that the same tribunal had early last year upheld the chairman’s election after it dismissed the petition filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Giri, in which an Appeal Tribunal ordered the rehearing of the petition again.
The three member tribunal, headed by Justice Fatai Tafida, in her two hours judgment said the petitioner and the All Progressives Congress (APC), had failed to prove his case beyond all reasonable doubt.
She added that the petitioner could not also prove the allegation of election malpractice in some wards, saying it was the duty of the tribunal to give the petitioner what it did not ask, hence, the petition was therefore dismissed.
“Besides, the petitioner had abandoned his case in the first instance and this tribunal cannot give what the petitioner did not ask for. Therefore, the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” she said.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the petitioner, APC, Barr. Christian Kelechi Esq, said he was not happy with the outcome, saying that he will meet with the petitioner after receiving the certified true copy of the judgment to study it and appeal the judgment. Girls and Youth Re-integration Network (GYRIN), an NGO, has expressed concern over rising cases of domestic violence against men in the country.
Miss Kehinde Awojola, Founder of the NGO, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja that GYRIN received alarming reports from men after it launched its campaign on “No To Violence Against Men”.
Awojola said that scores of married men had daily besieged her office to share unpleasant experiences being visited on them by their wives.
According to her, she received numerous calls from men who sought to know how they could deal with the way their wives were maltreating and taking up violence against them in their homes.
Awojola said the number of calls from men, sequel to the fallout of the awareness campaign at the Federal High Court, Jabi, in Abuja, where Maryam Sanda, the alleged killer of Bilyaminu Bello was being arraigned, were unimaginable. (NAN)