The Action Alliance (AA) case, which contested Ahmadu Fintiri’s election as the winner of the governorship election held on April 16, was rejected by the Adamawa State Governorship Election case Tribunal.
The complaint was dismissed during a pre-hearing session on Friday in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, after the petitioner formally dropped it.
The AA and its candidate, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Dr. Umar Ardo, as well as the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senator Aishatu Binani Dahiru all submitted petitions objecting to the declaration of Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the victor.
Binani argued that the court should uphold Hudu Yunusa Ari’s proclamation declaring her as the election’s victor in addition to the accusations of serious electoral law violations and dishonest voting procedures.
After the applicant and their council submitted a notice of withdrawal, the case of Action Alliance was dismissed.
Additionally, the APC and its candidate Binani’s lawsuit was requested to be dismissed by the tribunal in a move submitted by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate Fintiri.
The lawyer in SDP’s case did not present any witnesses. The hearing will now take place on July 21, 2023.
On April 18, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Governor Fintiri had won the supplemental election in Adamawa State, which some may have characterized as drama-filled.
Senator Aishatu ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 6,513 votes, was defeated by Fintiri, who received 9,337 votes in the rerun.
Fintiri received 430,861 votes overall, defeating Binani, who received 398,738 votes, to win the election.
The Commission set a make-up election for April 16 after INEC deemed the March 18 governorship election inconclusive.
However, the state’s resident electoral commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, prematurely declared Binani the winner while the supplemental election results were still being counted, in violation of the Electoral Act.
When a state’s governor is up for election, only the returning officer has the authority under Section 25 of the Electoral Act of 2022 to proclaim victory and announce the results at the state collation center.
Interestingly, only 10 of the 20 local government areas (LGAs) in the supplemental poll had results announced, but those results showed Fintiri ahead with seven victories to Binani’s three.
Ari’s proclamation was swiftly followed by the APC candidate’s acceptance speech.
In response, enraged opposition members attacked an INEC national commissioner they mistaken for the REC with their rage.
Binani was declared the “winner” of the governor of Adamawa election, however INEC quickly responded that the announcement had no bearing.
As a result, INEC halted the tabulation of the results of the supplementary election in Adamawa and requested that the REC, the returning officer, and all other officials involved return to the headquarters of the commission in Abuja.
The Adamawa REC’s move was denounced by the electoral body as a usurpation of the Returning Officer’s authority.
Just this week, INEC charged Ari with six counts.
According to Festus Okoye, a spokesman for INEC, the accusations were brought before the High Court in Yola, the state’s capital.
According to a statement released by Okoye on Thursday, the electoral body took the step after analyzing the police case file, which established a preliminary indictment of Ari.
