The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Plateau State during the 2019 general elections, Senator Jeremiah Useni has filled 21 grounds of appeal before the Court of Appeal in Jos, the state capital.

In the suit, Useni adduced reasons why his petition asking the state Election Petitions Tribunal to upturn the victory of Governor Simon Lalong should be upheld.

Useni, in a statement by his Media Consultant, Mr. Yiljap Abraham in Jos on Monday said he and the PDP were maintaining that Governor Lalong was not qualified to contest the election.

“Useni’s legal team, led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN and Edward Pwajok, SAN with Benson Igbanoi, Chief Sunday-Gabriel Odey and ten other legal experts has filed the notice of appeal and formulated twenty one grounds of appeal to overturn the October 2nd, 2019 verdict of the governorship election petition tribunal dismissing his petition.

“Specifically, General Useni and the PDP are maintaining that Simon Bako Lalong was not qualified in the first place to have contested the election into the office of Governor of Plateau State because he supplied false information to INEC in his form CF100,” Abraham said.

In the reliefs being sought from the Court of Appeal, Useni and his party maintained that the Tribunal in its judgement had acknowledged that its findings also pointed to the fact that the information Lalong supplied in that form was false.

They also want an order declaring that Lalong, who contested under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election into the office of Governor of Plateau State.

They are also praying the appellate court to declare Lalong’s return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election as unlawful, undue, null, void and of no effect.

They also seek an order nullifying the return of Lalong who is the 2nd respondent as the winner of the governorship election and directing INEC to withdraw his Certificate of Return and issue same to Useni as the validly elected governor of the state.