The tribunal ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could not prove that there were irregularities during the election.
The governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Kaduna has upheld the victory of Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna State, in the 18 March governorship election in the state.
Mr Sani was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His election was challenged by the first runner-up, Isah Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The three-member panel led by Victor Oviawe declared that the PDP and its candidate could not validate their claim that the election was rigged.
The verdict was announced via Zoom on Thursday.
According to Channels Television, whose reporting crew was granted physical access to the court, in a split judgement of two to one, the panel’s lead justice dismissed the petition on the ground that the pre-hearing notice was filed out of time and therefore deemed to be abandoned.
The tribunal chairman and another member held that the appeal brought by the PDP and Mr Ashiru wasn’t meritorious because the filing of the pre-hearing notice “was abandoned and out of time, and therefore had dealt the entire petition a fatal blow.”
However, the tribunal noted that if the petition had not been dismissed for lack of merit, it would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units within 90 days.
Mr Sani polled 730,001 votes to defeat his closest rival Mr Ashiru who scored 719,196 votes.
The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Jonathan Asake, came a distant third with 58,283 votes, while Suleiman Hunkuyi of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 21,405 votes.
While the LP and NNPP accepted the outcome of the election, the PDP and its candidate rejected the results, alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the wrong candidate the winner.
The PDP and Mr Ashiru alleged that there were massive irregularities and manipulation of results in favour of Mr Sani in some local governments.
They insisted that Mr Sani did not score the highest number of valid votes cast in the election and ought not to have been returned the winner of the election.
At the last sitting of the court on 3 September, all parties presented their final written addresses before the tribunal, with APC’s legal team led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, arguing that the petitioners had in fact helped to prove that his client won the election free and fair.
He pointed in particular to the admission of one of the petitioner’s witnesses, Bonett Gwazah, a senior system analyst in the VR/ICT department of the INEC in Kaduna State.
The PDP, however, argued that two conflicting election results emerged from INEC.
The party’s legal team led by Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, accused INEC of manipulating the election results in favour of Mr Sani.
Uba Sani lauds verdict
In a statement, the governor’s spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, said Mr Sani lauded the judgement describing it as a win for democracy and a validation of the people’s will and above all, God’s decree.
On this historic day, I join the people of Kaduna State to celebrate this monumental victory for democracy, ” the governor stated.
“I consider this verdict not only as a win but a call to action, a call to deliver on our campaign promises as captured in the SUSTAIN agenda. This victory is a testament to the strength of our great judicial institutions and a proud moment for me as one of the pioneer advocates for democratic governance in Nigeria decades ago.
“The Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe and I express our immense gratitude to the good people of Kaduna State for their prayers, support and firm belief in our mandate.
“Indeed, your unshaken loyalty and confidence in our administration is the propellant to ensuring we continue to deliver on our promises to you,” the governor Sani added.
Credit: Premium Times
