From Hadi Bawa In a landmark decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court affirmed the legitimacy of Governor Ahmad Aliyu's elect...
From Hadi Bawa
In a landmark decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court affirmed the legitimacy of Governor Ahmad Aliyu's election in Sokoto State.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar delivered the lead judgment, dismissing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Saidu Umar's appeal challenging the outcome of the March 18, 2023, governorship election.
The Supreme Court upheld the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, emphasizing that there were no grounds to overturn the election victory of Governor Aliyu, who contested under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Aliyu secured 453,661 votes, surpassing his closest rival, Umar of the PDP, who garnered 404,632 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Umar and the PDP, dissatisfied with the election results, approached the tribunal, alleging that Governor Aliyu and his deputy, Idris Gobir, were ineligible to contest the gubernatorial poll.
The petitioners argued that Governor Aliyu and his deputy did not obtain the majority of valid votes, and the election suffered from irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022.
Accusations extended to claims of forged certificates with name variations submitted to INEC and electoral fraud in 138 polling units.
However, the tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Mshelia, dismissed the petition on September 30, 2023, stating that the petitioners failed to prove the allegations.
The tribunal emphasized the incompetence of witnesses' statements and the failure to meet the burden of proving forgery beyond a reasonable doubt. Additionally, it noted that a significant portion of exhibits presented were irrelevant to the governorship election.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on November 27, 2023, upheld the tribunal's decision, declaring the proof of evidence produced by the petitioners as legally inadmissible.
Undeterred, the PDP and its candidate sought recourse at the Supreme Court, where, unfortunately, they faced another setback, concluding the legal battle on Thursday.
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