A challenge to the election of All Progressives Congress (APC) governor Ahmed Aliyu in Sokoto State was filed by Sai’du Umar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for governor. The Court of petition in Abuja dismissed the petition on Monday.
In a unanimous decision, the three-person appellate court justice panel dismissed the complaint contesting Aliyu’s election on the grounds that it lacked merit.
The appellate court determined that the appellants’ case to the Sokoto State Governorship Election case Tribunal, which accused them of conducting the election in violation of the Electoral Act and other electoral malpractices, was denied because the appellants could not provide evidence to support their claims.
Sunday Ibrahim Ameh (SAN), speaking on behalf of the appellants, adopted the procedures that had been submitted in the case during the previous sessions and urged that the court would grant the appeal on the grounds of merit.
Representing the first through fourth respondents, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Dr. Hassan Liman (SAN), and I. S. Mohammed urged the court to reject the appeal and uphold the Tribunal’s ruling, which proclaimed Aliyu the victor of the state’s gubernatorial election.
Recall that on September 30, in a unanimous ruling, a panel of three Justices of the Tribunal, presided over by Justice Haruna Msheila, dismissed the case filed by the PDP and its candidate for governor of Sokoto State.
The petitioners were found not to have proven any of the six grounds listed in their combined petition, according to the tribunal.
The tribunal found that the petition’s grounds mostly dealt with Aliyu and his deputy’s purported ineligibility to run for office, as well as allegations of certificate fraud, name changes, election fraud, and disregard for electoral procedures.
Seventy percent of the evidence that the petitioners provided were out of context since they related to State Assembly elections that were held on the same day, according to the lower tribunal’s ruling, which ruled that the petitioners were unable to prove the claims beyond a reasonable doubt as required by law.
