FACT CHECK: Was Datti Ahmed removed from the Nigerian Senate over election rigging?

Ayo Oyalowo, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has claimed that Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party’s (LP) vice presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential election, was removed from the Nigerian Senate over election rigging.

Oyalowo stated this during an interview on Arise News, where he was asked to react to the agitations by opposition parties protesting the emergence of Bola Tinubu as the president-elect.

“This same Datti, his deputy that has been making noise all over the place, rigged an election to become a Senator. He was removed by the court. So, if the court did that, they can still do it again.” 

Oyalowo said this as he called on Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate, and other aggrieved parties, to approach the court over their dissatisfaction at the outcome of the February 25 polls.

Claim: Datti Ahmed was removed from the Nigerian Senate over election rigging.

Verification

Findings revealed that in 2011, Datti Ahmed was elected into the Nigerian Senate to represent Kaduna North Senatorial District on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Following the outcome of the election, Datti Ahmed’s major rival, Ahmed Makarfi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), petitioned the National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Kaduna state over the conduct of the polls.

Makarfi, who is a former governor of the state, alleged that there were cases of multiple thumbprinting, ballot stuffing and the use of unsigned and unstamped ballot papers in favour of Ahmed.

The Tribunal later sacked Ahmed to announce Makarfi as the lawful winner of the election. This was after a recount deducted unsigned and unstamped votes from the total votes of both candidates.

Ahmed appealed the decision of the tribunal, but the Appeal Court dismissed his case, upholding Makarfi’s victory.

Verdict

The CDD Election War Room can confirm that the claim is misleading; while Datti Baba-Ahmed was indeed removed as a result of a rigged election, there is no evidence to show that he rigged the election.