The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal has given Alhaji Aiyelabegan Kayode Abdul the go-ahead to serve Kwara Central Senator-elect, Mallam Salihu Mustapha by substituted means.
Aiyelabegan had through his lawyers applied for an order for substituted service having accused the senator-elect of avoiding service.
The tribunal is headed by Justice T.T Asua while the secretary is Aisha MA Fika.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had announced Mallam Salihu Mustapha, who was the APC candidate, as winner of the Kwara Central Senate election held on February 25,2023.
Aiyelabegan, who was the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) candidate in the said election, had however argued that it did not substantially satisfy the provisions of the Electoral act 2022 as amended and had therefore asked the tribunal to declare it as badly flawed.
Apart from getting the go-ahead to serve Mallam Salihu Mustapha by substituted means, the tribunal also granted the motion ex parte filed by the petitioner seeking permission to inspect the materials used for the election in question which are expected to be made available by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Abdul Aiyelabegan had in seeking to fault the election and its outcome cited failure to have the logo and name of the NNPP featured on the ballot papers used for the election which had according to him denied people the opportunity to vote for the party-
