November 27, The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has upheld the victory of Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the March 18 governorship election in Sokoto State.
A three-member panel of Justices of the appellate court, led by Ita Mbaba, dismissed the appeal filed by Sai’du Umar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the judgement of the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the victory of Aliyu.
A three-man Election’s Petitions Tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Msheila, in a unanimous judgement on September 30, dismissed the joint petition of the PDP and its governorship candidate.
Sai’du Umar had challenged the declaration of Aliyu as the duly elected governor of the state, alleging irregularities among others.
He in his petition, alleged that falsification of certificates, variation of names, election fraud, and non-compliance with electoral guidelines
Ruling on his appeal on Monday, Justice Mbaba, held that the appellants failed to provide credible evidence to prove their allegation of non-compliance.with electoral guidelines
The judge noted that the appellants, who were petitioners before the tribunal pleaded and tendered INEC’s Forms EC40G, which were issued in respect of polling units where election results were cancelled, but failed to call witnesses from the affected polling units to speak to the exhibits.
