Senator Ishaku Elisha Abbo
Abbo alleges ‘Akpabio gang up’ for Appeal Court sacking, names next senator to be removed
Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial Zone at the National Assembly, Ishaku Elisha Abbo has alleged that his sacking through a Court of Appeal ruling, Monday afternoon, was a ‘gang up’ by ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party chieftains against him for not supporting President Bola Tinubu’s preferred candidate for senate president, Godswill Akpabio.
Senator Abbo, a candidate of APC for Adamawa North election in the February 25 election was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with the victory affirmed by the Adamawa State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Yola.
The tribunal, in its judgement, dismissed the the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Rev. Amos Kumai Yohanna’s petition for lacking in merit.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Yohanna approached the Court of Appeal challenging the ruling of the tribunal with the appellant court overturning the lower court’s ruling, Monday.
Rev. Yohanna, through his counsel Johnson Usman (SAN) approached the Appeal Court via appeal number: CA/YL/EP/AD/SEN/06/2023 between Rev. Amos Kumai Yohanna and another Vs Ishaku Elisha Cliff and others.
The Court of Appeal, after hearing arguments from parties, agreed with Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from the parties and found that Yohanna and PDP won the election by majority of lawful votes.
The three-member panel presided over by Justice C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, in a judgement, ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to Yohanna as validly elected lawmaker for the senatorial district.
Abbo, further called a press conference, later Monday, where he alleged that the senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu is next on the line to be removed by the scheme orchestrated by the Senate President, Akpabio against those who worked against his emergence.
Abbo said four other senators who worked against the emergence of Akpabio as Senate President had been targeted for removal from the Red Chamber through the court.
Abbo specifically mentioned Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC Abia North) as the next target for removal from the Senate.
“I have it from a reliable source that myself and four other senators within the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be removed from the Senate through rulings from the courts, all because of working against the emergence of Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate.
“I won’t mention the names of all the four other ones targeted but the next in line is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu,” he said.
It would be recalled that on September 28, 2020, an FCT High Court had ordered Abbo to pay N50 million as compensation to Ms Osimibibra Warmate, a staff of a sex toy shop in Abuja for violent assault after a magistrate court in Zuba had found the senator not guilty of criminal assault in July of the same year.
However, Warmate proceeded to file a fundamental human rights enforcement suit marked CV/2393/19 before the FCT High Court.
Delivering judgment in the application, the trial judge, Justice Samira Bature, found Abbo guilty and ordered him to pay the sum to the young woman.
