The Election Petition Tribunal in Sokoto State admitted two letters as exhibits on Sokoto State Deputy Governor Idris Gobir’s educational qualifications on Tuesday and adjourned the sitting to July 19.
The Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Haruna Mshelia, adjourned the case after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its 2023 Governorship candidate, Alhaji Sa’idu Umar, concluded their testimonies to prove the petition.
The exhibits, tendered by Mr Muyiwa Akinboro SAN, the lead Counsel to the PDP and Alhaji Sa’idu Umar, were from the Sabon Birni Local Government Education Authority (LGEA).
During Tuesday’s sitting, Akinboro called the state party chairman, Bello Goronyo, who was the last among 32 witnesses lined up to prove the petition at the Tribunal.
In his testimony, Goronyo said he delegated some party members as agents and received reports on election violence and associated frauds, which were compiled and submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant authorities.
He acknowledged that some persons were arrested for alleged violence and malpractices but could not confirm whether they were prosecuted or not.
The party chairman informed the Tribunal that he was unaware of any court judgment regarding the eligibility of Gov. Ahmad Aliyu and his Deputy, Idris Gobir, to contest elections.
Akinboro also presented Abdulmumini Usman, the Head of Operations in INEC Sokoto, who produced some election documents as evidence.
The lead Respondents’ Counsel, Chief Jacob Ochidi SAN, and the APC lead Counsel, Hassan Liman SAN, objected to the admissibility of the documents and cross-examined the witnesses.
INEC’s lead Counsel, Mr AbdulAziz Sani SAN, also aligned himself with the submissions of the Respondents’ Counsel.
Justice Mshelia adjourned the case to July 19 for the APC to present its defence.
It should be noted that Umar and the PDP approached the tribunal seeking the nullification of the March 18, 2023 election that declared Gov. Ahmad Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his Deputy, Idris Gobir, as winners.
In their petition, the petitioners alleged that the election was flawed, arguing that it did not comply with electoral laws.
They further argued that at the time of the election, the Respondents were not qualified to contest, and therefore, the votes were wrongfully attributed to them.
The petitioners contended that the election became unlawful or wasted votes, null and void.
They prayed to the Tribunal to mandate INEC to issue a new certificate of return to the petitioner as the duly elected Governor of Sokoto State, having scored the majority of the lawful votes cast, or to order another election excluding the Respondents.
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