The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the appeal filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Saidu Umar, seeking to nullify the election of the Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu.
The appellate court, therefore, affirmed the victory of the Sokoto State Governor in the March 18 gubernatorial poll in the state.
The appeal court, in its judgement, held that most of the evidence that the appellants presented to support their case against the Sokoto governor was inadmissible.
It also held that the tribunal was right when it expunged the incompetent exhibits that were either not pleaded or relevant to the case brought before it.
It is recalled that the candidate of the PDP had rejected the tribunal’s judgment delivered on October 1, 2023, which upheld the election of Aliyu as the duly elected governor of the state.
News About Nigeria gathered that Umar, in his petition, challenged the election of Aliyu of the APC over alleged non-qualification and electoral fraud during the March 18, 2023, governorship election.
The PDP candidate also alleged that the Governor and his deputy, who were declared winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, did not secure the majority of valid votes cast at the election.
Umar also alleged that the election was marred by irregularities. Additionally, he claimed there was non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
The petitioners also accused the governor and his deputy of submitting forged certificates with different names to INEC to qualify to run for the election.
However, in its judgement, the tribunal panel led by Justice Haruna Mshelia held that the petitioners were unable to prove any of the allegations they raised in their petition against the governor.
The tribunal, therefore, dismissed the petition and upheld the victory of Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress as the governor of the state.
