The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on Friday affirmed the election victory of Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State.
In a unanimous judgment, the three-member panel dismissed the five-ground appeal filed by Isa Ashiru, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate in the March 18 governorship election, for being unmeritorious.
The court, which set aside the tribunal’s order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election in some polling units, said the trial court was wrong to have declared the poll inconclusive.
Justice Obietonbara Daniel-Kalio, who read the judgments on the main and cross-appeals, held that the election, which produced Mr Sani, was substantially compliant with the Electoral Act.
In the main appeal marked CA/K/EP//GOV/KAD/39/2023, Mr Ashiru and PDP sued INEC, Mr Sani and APC, while in the cross-appeal marked CA/K/EP/GOV/KAD/40/2023, Mr Sani and APC filed the appeal against Mr Ashiru and three others.
Justice Daniel-Kalio resolved all five formulated issues against Mr Ashiru and PDP in the main appeal.
The five issues bothered alleged malpractices, overvoting, manipulation of results, and ballot stuffing.
In the cross-appeal filed by APC, which challenged the declaration of the election inconclusive, the panel resolved the three formulated issues in favour of the party and vacated the tribunal’s verdict.
The court held that evidence relied upon by the tribunal to declare the election inconclusive was manifestly bad and unreliable and ought not to have given any probative value.
The panel of justices, headed by Justice Daniel-Kalio, was supported by James Gambo Abundaga and Mohamed Baba Idris.
The governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Kaduna had, on September 28, declared the Kaduna State governorship poll inconclusive.
Mr Ashiru filed the petition against Mr Sani.
(NAN)
